A Whovian and a Time Lord
by DoctorWhovian18
Summary: I know this idea has been done before, but basically the 10th Doctor crashes through a hole in Time and Space into a young Whovian's front yard. He decides to take her with him, but he'll realise that there will be more to her than meets the eye. Rated T for possible kisses. Friendship but...well...will probably be more. XD
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hi, everyone. I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who and have had these stories going around and around on my computer for ages. I'm so glad I'm finally publishing them, so I hope you all like them. This story will sort of be like a typical season of Doctor Who, with the chapters as episodes. Sometimes they'll follow on from each others, sometimes they won't. Please feel free to ask any questions or point out any continuity/story/Doctor Who mistakes ^_^**

**Disclaimer: To my utter disappointment, I do not own Doctor Who, otherwise this story would be real and Donna would still be with the Doctor.**

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**Chapter 1: A Fateful Meeting**

I was woken by a loud whooshing sound. It was the middle of the night, probably around midnight. For a moment I thought the sound was in my dream, but as it grew louder I realised it was real.

It almost sounded like the TARDIS from Doctor Who. It was a loud pulsating hum. I got out of bed and went to my window, pulling the curtain back, curious but also slightly frightened. I could hear my parents, also having woken, muttering in the next room.

I couldn't see anything, but then a blue light caught my eye and I turned my attention skywards. Hundreds of stars twinkled back at me…and among them, spinning wildly out of control…was the TARDIS itself.

I stood there staring for several seconds, watching as it slammed down violently into the ground, nearly toppling over in the process. The light stopped blinking.

Then I ran. I pelted out to the lounge, past my still stunned parents and unlocked the front door.

"What are you doing?" Dad cried, grabbing my arm.

"It's the TARDIS!" I gasped. "It's all real!"

"Talia, don't be ridiculous. It's a hologram or something."

I shook my head. "No! It's real! I'll prove it to you, come with me!"

In my slippers still, I dashed out towards the TARDIS. The door was unlocked and I stepped inside. Instantly, I knew I was right.

Well…to state the obvious…it was bigger on the inside.

While Mum and Dad stood dumbfounded in the doorway, I began calling out.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

No answer. I walked around the centre console and spotted an unmistakable brown coated figure. The tenth Doctor lay, unconscious, on the grating. A small thrill ran through me; this was better than meeting David Tennant. I went to his side, shocked and concerned. Then I leaned down and put my ear to his chest.

"What are you doing?" Dad asked again. He knew practically nothing about the series. Mum, on the other hand, did.

"Checking both his hearts." She answered, prompting a shocked look.

I could hear two pulses, but they were a bit weak. Judging by logic, I guessed that he must have crashed into my universe…an alternate universe…but why? How? I thought all the gaps were sealed. Had he met Martha yet? Donna?

So many questions flew around my head. I took a deep breath. "Mum, Dad, get him inside and lay him on the couch."

"If he wakes should we do anything?" Mum asked.

"I won't be long. I'll come in. Give him water or whatever but _no aspirin!_" I warned. They carried him between them and I walked over to the screen on the console. "Right, now if the series had anything right, you're alive, aren't you girl?"

For a moment, I felt very silly. But then I heard a hum in the back of my mind. An agreement.

I smiled. "Can you show me, on this screen, what happened?"

Like a movie, the screen went blank for a moment before a scene began playing. I realised that the TARDIS had taped the whole situation.

The Doctor was rapidly pressing buttons. "I've finally found it." He muttered, though to himself or the TARDIS I couldn't tell. "A crack leading to Pete's world. Rose, I'm coming."

I gasped and felt a lump catch in my throat; he was trying to get to Rose.

He waited, looking as though he didn't dare hope too much. The TARDIS' humming grew louder as they slid through the crack. Then there was a harsh jolt.

"No!" The Doctor yelled, slamming a hammer down onto the console. "No, no, no! It shouldn't be doing that! Come on, girl, Pete's world!"

Something told me the TARDIS was now out of his control. Perhaps the crack covered several universes and, while aiming for Pete's…ended up in mine.

A part of the TARDIS console exploded at the same time it jolted again. This threw the Doctor backwards and, explaining his unconsciousness, into a metal beam. The transmission cut off.

I closed my eyes. "He just wanted to get to her." I whispered.

I headed back inside, after silently promising the TARDIS that I would take care of the Doctor and get him up and going again ASAP.

He was still unconscious. Mum and Dad had laid him on the couch like I said and put a blanket over him. They seemed not to know what to do next and were sitting on a chair. They looked up as I walked in.

"What were you doing?" Mum asked.

"Finding out what happened."

As briefly as I could, for Dad didn't know any of the story, I explained who the Doctor was, what had happened during his 9th regeneration and all the way through until Rose was trapped. Then I explained what he was doing here. It took over an hour.

"It was a complete accident and, if the series is anything to go by, the TARDIS won't be operational again for 24 hours." I finished. The second the words left my mouth, I heard a soft groan from behind me.

Turning, I realised the Doctor was slowly waking. "Where am I? What happened?" he murmured.

I went and kneeled next to him, trying not to stare with my eyes which I knew were as big as dinner plates at the moment. "You're on a property in NSW, Australia, Doctor. It's 2013. You crash landed in my dimension, while aiming for Pete's."

"How do you know who I am?" he asked, frowning. My heard suddenly did a small little jump…well…I had always had a crush on David Tennant.

"In this universe, you and all your previous regenerations exist as well…but only in a TV show. The parallel you is nothing more than an actor pretending to be you. But I've watched the series so I know pretty much everything about you and your companions." I told him.

He took a moment to absorb that, before shrugging. "Well, I've heard stranger things. But how did you know how I got here?"

"The TARDIS told me." I explained.

"She listened to you?"

"Yes. I think she knows how much I know."

He gasped and held a hand to his brow. "Ah! My head! Go on then, Miss Know-It-All, how'd _that_ happen?"

"When the TARDIS crashed, you were thrown into the wall."

He raised an eyebrow, having not expected an answer. "Well then, it seems I have to thank you and…your parents." He looked up, spotting Mum and Dad for the first time.

Mum nodded. "You're welcome, Doctor. Although I will say that even now I believe this is a dream."

Dad just stayed silent. He too seemed to be struggling with what he saw before him, but preferred to struggle in silence.

"I'd better go out and start the TARDIS' recharging cycle." The Doctor announced, sitting up slowly.

"Allons-y!" I cried, standing up myself.

His eyebrow shot up again. "Hey! That's my line!" but he grinned, so I laughed along.

We headed back outside, with Mum saying she'd put on some tea. Once in the TARDIS, the Doctor began searching around for the one power cell that remained active. I helped, until I touched something that nearly burned my finger off.

"Aha! Here we go. Leave this little guy on for a day and we're ready to go." He said satisfactorily.

I had a feeling that by 'we', he meant himself and the TARDIS.

Disappointed somewhat, but also knowing that his character would possibly ask me to accompany him at some stage, I asked, "So what do you want to do here for a day?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. We can start with your Mum's tea. I gather there's no aliens in this universe then?"

"Well, you get your sightings but I never think they're real. Although, after tonight, I might." I replied.

"So do you really know everything?" he asked.

"Not quite, but close." I said, trying to sound modest.

"Mind if I quiz you?"

"Of course not, but what for?"

He avoided answering that. "What was the first alien Rose and I, or rather, the Old Doctor, faced?"

"The Nestene Consciousness." I said.

He nodded. "Name two historical figures I have met and who with?"

"You have met Queen Victoria with Rose and William Shakespeare with Martha."

"Ah, you know about Martha."

"Yes. She's left, hasn't she?"

"Yes, yes she has." He seemed not to want to talk about it, so I didn't press the issue. We stood and stared up at the stars for a moment.

I decided it was my turn to quiz him. "What's that star, or planet, or whatever it is?" I asked, pointing to a random star.

"Silenia. Home of the Strontien race."

"That one?"

"Ah, my turn. That star you pointed out, home of the Slitheen. Which is…"

I grinned; he was openly playing with me now. "Raxicoricofallapatorius."

Even he was impressed at how the name rolled off my tongue.

"Last one, then we'll go inside. What is time?"

I grinned wider, deciding to quote him. "From a non-linear perspective it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly…timey wimey…stuff."

He burst out laughing and I joined in, glad to have made him happy. "You are brilliant! I never got your name…?"

"Talia Dincer."

"Well, Talia, you're quite a human."

Taking that as a compliment, I opened my mouth to thank him when suddenly he frowned and raised his hand for silence.

"Oh no. Remember you said you often get sightings but can't tell if they're real?" his voice had dropped to a low whisper.

"Yes."

"Don't look to your left. Standing in the forest thirty metres away is an Octavian. And it's armed."

I nodded, fear rooting me to the spot anyway. The Doctor looked towards the forest at what was clearly the alien. "What do you want?"

A voice that seemed like the most beautiful symphony mixed with an owl's screech echoed through the distance, and I realised that the TARDIS had decided to translate for me.

"Last of the Time Lords. Last of the race that imprisoned my people in the night. At last, I have tracked you down."

The Doctor visibly paled. "What is it with members of lost races wanting to kill me…?" he muttered. "I promise not to touch you or the rest of your kind if you let me leave peacefully. I shall be ready to go by tomorrow night. Let me leave, and I shall even see if I can find a way to reverse your predicament."

There was a sharp hiss. "Oh no, Doctor, revenge is so much sweeter than freedom!"

I heard a scuffling sound, followed by the unmistakable whine of something travelling through air. I dared to turn and saw a glowing red dart flying towards the Doctor. He seemed stunned.

Fear filled me; if the Octavian knew about Time Lords and wanted him dead, then that dart could kill him. In the millisecond it took me to realise that, I also made a quick decision. I threw myself in front of him just as the dart hit.

It imbedded itself into my neck.

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**A/N: I know. Cliffhanger after the first chapter. Sorry. Next one will be up later today. Enjoy, rate and comment!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: WOW! Two reviews and six followers already! Thanks everyone! Of course I'll keep updating. Please let me know if the Doctor or anyone else who appears our of character at any stage. I hope you keep enjoying!**

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**Chapter 2: The Journey Begins**

"No! Talia, no!" he was screaming, while another horrid screeching sound could be heard as the Octavian realised it had been thwarted.

My head became fuzzy, while pain begun building all over my body. I moaned softly before my legs gave way. How stupid was I? I just rescued a man who, in reality, I didn't know from dying…thus injecting some alien poison into my own body.

The Doctor caught me and scooped me into his arms, racing for the door of my house.

"Hang in there, it's going to be alright." He murmured.

"It hurts." I whispered. "I can barely see you."

I could just make out the worry lines covering his forehead. Next thing I knew, I was in Dad's arms. My eyes slipped shut. The pain increased, as did the heavy, numbing-ness of my head. I was slipping.

Voices swirled unrecognisably above me. I struggled, but the poison took hold and I knew no more…

When I woke, it was very slowly and lightly. Semi-conscious, I registered the lack of pain. I also registered that my arms and legs felt like lead. I could never remember feeling so exhausted. I doubted I could muster up the strength to open my eyes. My heartbeat was loud and unnaturally slow in my ears.

"Talia, sweetie, can you hear me?"

That was Mum's voice. "Yeah." I breathed; even saying that word was an effort.

"How are you feeling?" Dad asked.

"So tired." My voice remained barely audible. "Where's he?"

"I'm here." The Doctor's voice was a slight relief, but his was concerned beyond belief. "Now I don't know whether you'll be able to understand everything, but here goes. That dart you were shot with contains a venom deadly to Time Lords. It even prevents our regeneration cycle. I never knew what effect it would have on a human, but I've been doing some research and I think I know how I can save your life."

The words sent a chill through my spine; enough to make me open my eyes. "I'm dying?"

Nervously, he nodded. Mum and Dad looked very pale and close to tears.

"It will hurt, but it'll remove the venom from your body in time. It's obviously a slower process than it would be for me." The Doctor rambled. "What I'm going to do is send an electric current through your body."

"Ok. I trust you." I whispered. I could feel myself slipping again. "You haven't thanked me for saving you."

The effort of saying a whole sentence nearly pulled me under completely, but I resisted just long enough to hear him say, "Thank you, Talia."

The next thing I was aware of was the painful electricity frying every nerve in my body. At least…that's what it felt like. Every muscle went stiff…pinpricks of pain were everywhere. I screamed. A cloth stuffed in my mouth prevented me from biting my tongue. In my weakened state I could do little in the way of thrashing, though the pain was enough to make me convulse.

"Almost there, Talia." Mum was whispering. Then, even quieter, I heard her say to Dad, "If this doesn't work, I'm going to find another dart and kill him."

I was shocked, through the agony, to hear her talk so vehemently, and hoped for the Doctor's sake that he was right.

The pain reached a climax. Words could not describe what I went through for five seconds before, once again, darkness claimed me for its own…

"Talia?"

"Mum?" I mumbled, waking just as slowly as before. However, this time it felt like waking normally. I was still extremely tired, but no longer so exhausted that I couldn't even move.

I heard her sigh in relief. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better. It worked." I opened my eyes and propped my head up on my elbow. "How long has it been?"

"A day." She replied. "It's afternoon. Dad's making you a light soup; I told him you were waking."

"The Doctor hasn't left, has he?" I asked, realising that the TARDIS would be ready to go.

She shook her head. "He's just getting the TARDIS ready, though."

I looked down. I knew I was going to tell him that I wanted to go, but I doubted Mum and Dad would let me…so I decided to tell her first.

"I was going to ask to go with him, back to his universe, and travel with him." I said.

She frowned. "I knew you would want to go, but I don't think I or your father could let you."

"You can trust him, Mum. No-one's ever died travelling with him. They've come close…but never." Of course, that was sort of a guess. I didn't quite know if anyone had died during his other regenerations.

"Talk to your father. It's just hard to trust him with your life."

"You did last night."

"We didn't have a choice."

I did what she said though and, after eating, told Dad. His reaction was similar, but after a long conversation between the three of us it was agreed that if they were ever going to let me go with anyone, it would be the Doctor. If he wanted me to come, they would talk to him before we left.

I went outside to ask. I had to admit that I was nervous; what if he just wanted to find Rose on his own?

I knocked on the TARDIS door.

"You're the first person I've met to knock." He commented as I walked in.

He was bent low over the console, sonicking something.

"How are you?" he asked without looking away.

"Fine now. Thanks."

"As you said last night, I should be thanking you. I save people's lives; that's what I do. But it's not every day that a stranger saves mine." He flashed me a grin.

I shrugged, smiling back. "I had to. I watched the series and loved the character of the Doctor and your courage and sense of right and wrong." I made sure to keep the word 'loved' light.

"That reminds me…how much have you seen?" he asked, curiosity finally taking him away from his work as he stood and faced me, taking off his glasses.

"Surprisingly, not that much." I replied. "I've seen bits and pieces from your third and fourth self, most of your eighth self; and I know the basics of the time war. Then I know everything from your ninth self and up until now with you."

He seemed impressed. "Wow. A true fan, then."

I laughed. "You could say that, yeah."

A few moments passed, then at the exact same time, we said, "Hey, I was wondering…"

"You go first." I said.

He shook his head. "No, no, you."

I took a deep breath. "I was wondering if I could maybe come with you."

I was ready for a frown; a sigh; a turn-away-and-start-fiddling-with-a-button.

I was not ready for a huge grin and a nod. "I was thinking the same thing. I don't seem to be doing all that well on my own, especially since Donna…left…So I was going to ask. I think we'll make quite a team."

Joy filled me instantly. "Wow! Thanks!" then I sobered. "But in that case Mum and Dad wanted to talk to you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I've been slapped by someone's mother before and given a stern talking to…so may as well get it over with."

He walked towards the door, turning as he reached it. "I'd get yourself packed and ready if I were you. We'll leave pretty much immediately."

I nodded and followed him back into the house.

The talk went well. Dad told the Doctor that if he allowed me to get hurt he would not only destroy the TARDIS but would use up the rest of the Doctor's regenerations. He agreed and promised to keep me safe.

Then there was the more than slightly tearful farewell, and the Doctor and I entered the TARDIS.

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**A/N: The first trip isn't somewhere from the series, but I hope you all like the idea. Will be uploaded tomorrow morning!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay! Third chapter is up. Once again, hope you all like it. Thanks again to all who are following and who have favourited this story ^_^**

**P.S. Do I have to give a disclaimer in every chapter? Can someone let me know pls.**

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**Chapter 3: First Trip**

"Right, where to?" he asked, pulling a lever to send us back to the time vortex.

I shrugged. "I was going to go wherever you took us." He fiddled around on the console a bit before I asked. "Weren't you looking for Rose when to landed in my dimension?"

He looked up, shocked, and I realised that it may have slipped his mind. Sorrow instantly overtook his expression before he turned back down.

"Well…the plan was to scan for cracks in the universe and find the right one. But you deserve a few side trips first. Besides, you don't even have to help me. I don't see why you would." He muttered.

I sighed, mildly annoyed. "Doctor, I explained before we left that I like you and your character, so I know how you feel about Rose and I would love you to be happy by finding her."

His eyes met mine. Ten different emotions flew across them, only some of which I identified. Confusion. Wonder. Hope. Appreciation. "Well…thank you. Ok, well we need one that first of all leads to Pete's world, then it has to be in or around London so we don't have to go traipsing around the whole world to get there, and finally it needs to be open for at least a day to give the TARDIS time to charge." He rambled off. "But…still, since it's your first trip you choose where we go."

I grinned. "Thanks for that. Well…How about you randomise the coordinates. We'll always end up somewhere interesting that way."

He chuckled. "Sounds like a plan!"

Several levers and buttons later, both he and I were roughly thrown backwards as the TARDIS landed. Laughing, he jumped to his feet and pulled me up, before indicating for me to open the doors.

"It really could be anywhere, anytime, right?" I checked. He nodded, so I went and pushed the doors open. "…It's Earth."

I was slightly disappointed. I expected an alien planet, considering the random coordinates and the millions of planets out there. But the TARDIS had landed in what appeared to be a London market street.

"Well…not quite!" The Doctor exclaimed. "You see, this is the year 3456, Earth time and fifty years previously a race called the Raporians discovered the Earth and greatly admired it. They didn't care it was a level 5 planet, they loved the human culture! Something I must say I can relate to. So, when they returned to their own planet, they copied the areas of Earth that they saw. So, Talia, welcome to Rapor London!"

A grin lit up my face. As if on cue, the previously empty market stalls were suddenly filled with aliens. They certainly did not appear human. Their heads looked normal from the front, aside from slightly bigger eyes, but the backs went out into a point where a single lock of hair fell to the floor. Their bodies were thin, half the size of even the Doctor, and their four arms worked smoothly to unload all the wares they sold. To top off their appearance, their skin had a purplish hue.

"Wow." I stated.

"Did you bring money?" he asked.

"Yeah. In my purse. What?...They use Earth currency?"

He nodded, then asked for the purse. "I presume you'd have Australian dollars in here? Well, this is London. You need pounds."

"Your sonic screwdriver can even do that?" I couldn't help a slight tone of disbelief enter my voice.

He scoffed. "No! There's an exchange stall over there."

He pointed to a stall nearest them and walked over there. I followed out of sheer curiosity.

As we approached, the alien's already bigger than normal eyes widened. "A human!" he gasped, rushing out from behind the stall, grabbing my hand and shaking it. "Oh! All my life I've dreamt of meeting a real human!"

Somehow I got the sense that he was young…this species' version of a teenager, maybe.

Not to mention, I was slightly embarrassed and relieved when he released my hand. "Um…it's an honour to meet you, as well. What's your name?" I asked. "Mine's Talia."

The alien smacked his head. "Of course! Of course! I should have introduced myself. I'm Curco."

The Doctor chose this moment to speak up. "How did you know I wasn't human?"

Curco smiled at him. "We Raporians have an inbuilt sensor to identify the species of those we meet. It helps when this is one of the most famous markets in the region, sir."

He seemed slightly miffed, but his voice let me know that he was faking his annoyance. "What? So the last of the Time Lords…nah! But a common human?"

Curco seemed to be slightly embarrassed. "Well…I didn't mean to show you any disrespect, sir. You see…"

He was interrupted as the Doctor gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Don't fret, Curco. I really don't mind. Besides, I have come here before. While Talia, here, well, it's her first time."

Curco's eyes brightened. "And are you desiring some money for trinkets, miss?"

I looked up at the Doctor, who nodded encouragement. "Yes, although nothing specific…I was just going to browse. I do need to exchange my dollars for pounds, though."

Curco nodded and dashed back behind his stall, taking my purse and swapping the money. I was impressed at the amount I got and distractedly hoped that the money was distributed fairly in Rapor London.

The Doctor then asked, "This may sound odd, but do you know of any cracks in the universe around here?"

"I do not know of any such thing." Curco replied. "But you are welcome to look around, sir, for there are many things I do not know."

Then the Doctor looked at me. "Will you be alright for a while, while I do a bit of searching?"

"Sure." I said, looking forward to seeing what was being sold.

He smiled. "If I'm not back in an hour, wait in the TARDIS. Don't come and find me."

I raised an eyebrow. "What if you're gone two or more hours?"

He scratched the back of his neck almost nervously. "Well…let's just hope it doesn't come to that but then yes, come looking."

I laughed and said goodbye, watching which direction he headed in before turning to the next stall; a fabulous display of jewellery.

Forty one minutes later, I was startled by a tap on my shoulder. It was the Doctor.

"Having fun?" he asked.

I nodded, grinning. "Yeah. I got a few things, too. I bought these earrings for myself…" I brushed my hair back to show him the hanging droplets that seemed to swirl with green fire.

"Very nice." He commented and I fought to keep from blushing.

"Oh! And I even got this for Rose!" I cried, holding up a charm bracelet. Each charm was a miniature TARDIS, coloured with a strange alien metal. There was the obvious blue one, a green one, a red one, a yellow one and a plain silver one. "The jeweller made it for me as soon as I showed him what the TARDIS looked like."

He was stunned. "I…I think she'll love it." Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. "I got something for her, too. What do you think?"

It was very simple, and elegant. A single pendant hung from the golden thread; a solid gold rose. Appropriate. "It's beautiful."

He leaned closer and whispered, "Your gift can wait until the right moment."

This time I did blush; I hadn't seen anything he would like. "You – you didn't have to get me anything."

He grinned. "Trust me."

I turned back to the stall I was currently at to hide the bright red I knew my cheeks were, and spotted a gorgeous tea set. "My Mum would love that! I should…" I trailed off, remembering that Mum was trapped in another dimension and I had no idea when I would see her again.

"Buy it for her." The Doctor murmured.

"What's the use?" I asked. "It could be months before I see her again, or longer. I don't want it to sit in the TARDIS gathering dust." I had to struggle to keep my voice steady as I processed the implications of what I had actually agreed to.

For some reason the Doctor looked almost…sheepish. "Um…I haven't told you yet but I guess this is a good a time as any. While you were unconscious, the TARDIS recharged faster than usual. I…well…took you and your family to this universe, where your copies live in the same place leading almost exactly the same lives…and swapped them. The other family don't know, of course, and when this is all over we can always swap them back but…"

I held up a hand. "You did _what?_" I gasped, my voice raising several octaves. "You brought my family into this universe…took my alternate family to the other universe…and no-one noticed the difference? How on Earth, no pun intended, did you manage that?!"

He shrugged, smiling smugly. "Time Lord."

A slightly hysterical laugh escaped from me; I knew he was good…but I didn't know he was that good.

After that I wasted no time in buying the tea set and asked him, "So, did you end up finding anything?"

He shook his head. "No, although I did have a run-in with a rather bad-tempered alien. There I was, calmly walking along, when he bumped into me. He started yelling at me, thinking it was my fault. So, I told him exactly why it wasn't and that he should watch where he was going."

"Doesn't sound too bad." I commented.

He shifted his weight to the other foot, avoiding my eyes. "Yeah…I also added that it would in fact be difficult for him to watch where he was going because of his huge nose and horn…"

"Doctor!" I cried, exasperated.

He suddenly became very distracted with something over my shoulder. "Uh-oh. Here he comes now."

I turned…and felt my eyes widen. "Hey, that's a Jud…"

"Yes it is." He grabbed my hand. "Run!"

The Judoon, calling out in its native tongue, chased us all the way back to the TARDIS. The Doctor's bigger-on-the-inside pockets came in handy for the tea set, otherwise there would be bits of china covering the streets.

We threw ourselves through the blue doors, shutting them quickly behind us. The Doctor raced to the console and quickly put us into flight. Then we looked at each other and started laughing.

"I knew you attracted trouble…but I didn't realise you asked for it!" I gasped between bouts of mirth.

He had the face to look shamed. "Yeah, I have never prided myself on being politically correct."

"So…what's this about a gift?" I asked cheekily.

He winked.

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**A/N: Ok, there will be a jump between this chapter and the next one of...like a few days or something. The usual jump between episodes like in the series. Also, the present will come back into it in a while...wait and see! Oh, and there will be some...well...feelings and fluff going on. I'll try to keep in mind that the Doctor isn't human, so please tell me if he seems OOC.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Heya. There's been a few days to a week break between this, during which the Doctor and Talia ave formed a strong friendship. Nothing really eventful happened, that's why I've skipped to this part XD. Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 4: Talia the Lab Rat**

"Where are we?" I asked as the TARDIS landed.

"The planet…Gromna." He replied; the pause was due to having to pull himself up from the floor because of the slightly rougher landing than usual. "The Gromnans are incredible scientists; they're responsible for some of the biggest medical discoveries in the universe. There's really only one time we wouldn't want to be here, and that's _not_ when I've landed us."

I stared at him, knowing how shoddy his navigation skills were. "Are you sure? What's so bad about this time?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It was about, aw…a hundred year span. Humans colonised some of the Gromnans lands. There was peace for quite a while…then humans begun disappearing. It turned out, Gromnans had begun using them to experiment and test on. Kind of like how humans use animals. They went…a bit crazy." He trailed off.

"Doctor…" My voice became slightly more urgent.

"No, no, definitely not!" He insisted. "Come on! Five million years of the planet's history, I am _not_ landing us in a small hundred year period! Allons-y!"

And before I could ask him to check the monitor, he walked out the door. Shrugging – after all, I already trusted him with my life – I followed.

We had landed in what appeared to be a cave tunnel.

"We're underground." I stated.

The Doctor nodded. "Yep. The Gromnans have to live underground. They're sort of like moles. Now, the TARDIS has identified a slight weakness in the universe somewhere on this planet. I don't know if it's enough to be a crack, but either way this should be interesting." He spotted something over my shoulder. "Oh! Look, here come a few of them now!"

I turned to see five strange creatures walking up to us. The Doctor was right; their faces were snout-like, a bit like the star-nosed mole. They were covered in silky brown fur, but walked on two feet. I couldn't see much of the fur because they were wearing some kind of uniform. Unlike moles, however, their eyes seemed fully developed. They were large and white, with small irises and pupils. The very sight of them sent shivers down my back, but my eyes were fixed on what was in their hands.

"Doctor, they've got guns." I whispered.

"I can see that, thank you." He hissed back. Then, raising his voice normally again, he called, "Hello! I'm the Doctor, and this is Talia. We're just tourists, looking around, if that's alright with you?"

The Gromnan closest to us looked towards the Doctor. "You are trespassers."

"No, no, no!" he cried. "No, we came here on a tour and we've just gotten separated from our group. I can even show you proof, see?"

He raised the psychic paper.

To my horror, the Gromnan remained sceptical. "There have not been any tours in our lands for many years. You are therefore trespassers. The blue box behind you is some sort of teleport mechanism the humans have devised. Seize them!"

One approached me and grabbed my shoulders, and another did the same with the Doctor. The other two each pulled out a machine and pointed it at us. A red light scanned me and the Doctor from head to toe, before the machine was replaced in a pocket.

The lead one who had been doing all the talking received a quick word from those two, before turning to me. "You have been identified as human. You will be used in the laboratories."

I felt the blood rush from my head at his words and half-glared, half looked despairingly towards the Doctor, who appeared horrified.

The leader turned to him. "You are not human. Your species is unknown. Therefore, you are not needed. Dispose of him."

"No!" I cried, as the Gromnan holding him pulled out a syringe of a strange, purple-coloured liquid. The expression on the Doctor's face told me he knew what it was…and that it was extremely dangerous.

"J-j-j-just wait!" The Doctor stammered. "I can help you! I'm a scientist! Didn't you hear me introduce myself as a _Doctor_?"

"We do not need help from anyone. Goodbye."

The cold tone of the leader was lost to my ears as the syringe was placed against his neck and pushed.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered to me, staring at me intensely. Then his eyes rolled back into his head, he went completely limp and the Gromnan allowed him to fall to the ground in a heap.

Tears sprung to my eyes and spilled over as the gravity of what had just happened sunk in. "Doctor! Doctor! No!" I screamed, pulling against the Gromnan holding onto me with all the strength I could muster. "No!"

The Gromnan clamped a furry hand over my mouth as I continued to struggle. I kept my eyes on the Doctor's still form, waiting for a glow or a spasm…something that would indicate regeneration. He couldn't just be…gone!

Yet there was nothing.

The next ten minutes flew completely over my head. What scared me most was that the Gromnans were no longer making sense; the TARDIS had stopped translating.

Before I knew it, I was strapped by my hands and feet to a machine. Then, electricity coursed through my body about five or six times. I had no idea why, nor did I really care. Each blast left me exhausted and I hung forwards, due to being suspended above the ground, and allowed the tears that still prickled my eyes to fall. Hopelessness and depression filled me to the brim. I was stuck on an alien planet, being experimented on. I couldn't fly the TARDIS, or even get back to it at this rate.

And the Doctor was dead.

Several tests and God knows what else later, though my body ached and my head was fuzzy and dazed, I did try to escape. That ended very badly…with me on the end of a rather crude leather cane. Afterwards, they threw me in a cell of some sort and locked the barred door, leaving me to recover enough for another round.

Roughly an hour or so passed before my head cleared from the strange drugs they'd been injecting me with and I managed to push the majority of the aches to the back of my mind. It was only then that I noticed the very obvious fact that the single guard standing in front of my cell…was a Sontaran.

Several questions flew through my head. First, why would a single Sontaran be working as a guard? Second, why would his be facing its back to me, when that was his weak point? And finally, why was I wondering about this? The situation was there in front of me, why don't I take advantage of it?

Though I knew that I had no way of getting off the planet, I would be safer in the TARDIS. Perhaps the Doctor had regenerated. Perhaps he had recovered.

Or perhaps he was still lying there…

I pushed that thought to a dark corner of my mind, before standing as quietly as I could. My eyes went first to the air vent on the Sontaran's neck, then to the key hanging on his belt. My luck was unbelievable. I crept closer. Then before I hesitated any further and he turned around, I punched the air vent. He went rigid, and then collapsed. I reached through and grabbed the key.

Then I unlocked the cell. Slowly, looking everywhere before taking each step, I made my way through the tunnels in the direction of the TARDIS. Several times I had to take a different route or find a place to hide to avoid Gromnans. As such, I got quite lost more than once. Eventually, I made it around the laboratory where I had been 'tested' and started walking towards the final corner.

I took a deep breath before walking around it. As well as every other possibility that went through my head, the Gromnans could have removed his body and the TARDIS by now.

He was still there, lying in the same position in front of the TARDIS.

"Oh, Doctor…" I murmured, my eyes prickling again. But then I heard approaching footsteps and pushed my emotions away.

I ran forward and fished through his pockets until I found the key, mildly annoyed that he had never given me one. Then I unlocked the TARDIS, pushed open the door and dragged him inside. It was one hell of a struggle. Tired as I was, I was still surprised at how heavy he was! I made sure that those were the only thoughts in my head, rather than his cold skin, lack of a double heartbeat and still half-open eyes.

Shutting the door behind us, I gently put him down and turned to the console. For a moment, all I could do was stare at it, breathing deeply.

"Well, she's helped me before." I muttered to myself. Refusing to look at the Doctor's body, I slowly approached the screen, silently asking for instructions or aid. If we could get back to Earth…

Oh, what was the use? The Doctor was dead! Nothing was right anymore!

I flopped onto the chair, head in my hands.

A sudden loud beeping and flashing made me look up again. It seemed as though every light was on, alerting me to…something. I looked at the screen and saw two words appearing over and over.

HE'S ALIVE. HE'S ALIVE. HE'S ALIVE.

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**I know. Cliffhanger again. Sorry. The TARDIS likes Talia ^_^ So, what do you all think? Good idea? Or a bit too serious so early on in the fanfiction? Let me know in the comments!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter this time as things calm down. You can start seeing that the Doctor and Talia care about each other...but will it become more? Lol. **

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**Chapter 5: Saved (NOT like in Forest of the Dead in a computer)**

I was next to him in a nanosecond, listening to both sides of his chest, desperately trying to believe what the TARDIS was telling me. Sure enough, there was a faint heartbeat from his right heart. It was barely anything…but it was there. Quickly composing myself, I used the energy that had coursed through me at the sound to pull him through the TARDIS to the medical bay. Again, she helped me; it was the first door.

He wasn't breathing, one heart was bust…but he wasn't dead yet!

I lifted him onto an examination table and looked around for a way to scan him; if I could find out what was in that syringe, I could go to the TARDIS' library and find out if there was an antidote.

She was on my side, just as worried about him as I was. Instructions appeared on one of the many computer screens surrounding me. I picked up his sonic screwdriver, put it on the setting that was on the screen and ran it over his body from head to toe. Then I plugged it into the computer.

A few seconds passed as it was processed, then:

TRACES OF ABISITH FOUND IN THE BLOODSTREAM. PATIENT IS ALIVE. PATIENT HAS 23 MINUTES BEFORE REGENERATION MAY ENSUE, OTHERWISE DEATH WILL OCCUR.

23 minutes. 23 minutes to find an antidote and give it to him before he dies…or regenerates. Either one was bad. I quickly hooked an oxygen machine up to him and raced to the library, which was the next door down…again, I reminded myself to thank the TARDIS.

I dashed to the catalogue and sifted through the pages, looking for the name Abisith. I found it and quickly located the book. Flicking through, I searched for the word 'antidote'.

Then I found what I was looking for:

_Abisith is a poison from the plant of the same name, originating on the planet Esister. The poison causes paralysis, unconsciousness and eventually death. Death can take up to ten hours, but is unavoidable unless the correct antidote is administered._

Following was a list of ingredients. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote it all down, then ran to the kitchen.

Still counting my lucky stars, almost everything was a consumable product from Earth. I almost laughed in my hysteria at one of the ingredients; pear skin.

I chucked everything in a blender, including the one obscure ingredient that I didn't even bother to read about, pureeing it all. Then I ran back to the med bay, grabbed a syringe, went back to the kitchen and filled it up with the correct amount of the antidote.

Then I was at his side again. I quickly checked to see that his heart was still going, relieved when it was. I put the syringe against his neck and, hoping that I hadn't made a mistake, I pushed the plunger.

For a second nothing happened. Then he spasmed wildly, forcing me to hold his arms down lest he injure himself. My heart ached, for he was clearly in pain, but I knew this was a sign that the antidote had already begun its work. After several minutes of fighting to keep him still, he went completely limp.

I listened to his chest again and, to my joy, heard two stronger heartbeats. He had also begun breathing again. I hooked him up to two heart monitors, just in case, and continued providing him oxygen. I quickly read through the next few pages of the book in case there was anything else I had to do.

Then, for the first time, I pulled a chair up next to the table where he lay and sat down. I hadn't eaten or slept in ten hours or more, and I was well aware of all the aches that had begun to return…but I was determined not to leave until I saw him awake and okay again.

It was stubborn, I knew.

I was barely aware of how much time passed. An hour, maybe more. My eyes prickled with tiredness, but I sat rigidly in the seat; if I relaxed or put my head down for even a second, I would be unconscious.

I think I went into a daze, for it wasn't until he sat up that I realised he had woken. Focusing, my brain processed what was in front of me.

Then I quite literally threw myself at him in a hug.

"Oh Doctor! You're alive! You're alright!" I screamed and, like a dam had been broken, tears begun running down my face in relief. "I was so scared, and so worried. I thought you were dead!"

He wrapped his arms around me gently. "Hey, it's alright. I'm here. And I've got you to thank. How did you do it? No, forget it. I don't care. The point is, you did."

We remained in the embrace until my tears stopped. He held me at arm's length and examined me, frowning at what he saw.

"What is it?" I asked, wiping my eyes and grinning.

"How long has it been? What happened to you after they poisoned me?" he asked, his face a mask of concern.

I shrugged. Now that I could see he was alright, the weariness begun to take over. "It's been…about eleven hours. They took me to this lab…electrocuted me several times, I've no idea why…"

"That would be to remove any foreign bacteria." The Doctor said bitterly. "Completely unnecessary."

"Then they, um, injected me with several things. One gave me a massive headache which…" I winced, "Is kind of still there. Another made me drowsy. I tried to escape and they, um…" I trailed off, not wanting to voice it.

He lifted my head, which had lowered. "They didn't? They didn't _beat_ you?" he asked with horror.

I nodded. "They put me in a cell. The guard was a Sontaran, so I used what I knew to escape."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No. I've been here since I gave you the antidote." I replied. Waves of tiredness and dizziness washed over me. His hands closed tighter over my shoulders to keep me standing.

"I think you need to lie down." He said quietly, but forcefully.

"I just want to know that you're okay." I murmured, fighting now to keep my eyes open.

"Absolutely fine!" he exclaimed with my favourite grin. "A few more minutes and I would have started regeneration, so you were right on time!"

"So you were going to regenerate? Not die forever?" I asked.

He nodded. "Would have done, yeah. But, I'm glad I'm still me."

"So am I." I whispered. Suddenly my legs gave way. He stood and supported me, pulling my arm around his neck…which was slightly uncomfortable considering his height.

"Come on, Talia. Let's get you some rest."

"You too." I said, the words slurring together with exhaustion.

We took a few steps towards the door of the med bay, before he realised that my legs were not going to cooperate. So, scooping me into his arms in a way that was almost romantic, he carried me towards my room. At some stage I must have drifted asleep because I didn't remember being put on the bed, only his voice whispering gently, "Goodnight, Talia. Thank you for everything."

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**A/N: Now, over the next few chapters the Doctor 'conveniently forgets' that he's meant to be looking for Rose, but it will come up again soon. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So a pretty calm chapter this time. Just some friendship-fluff. Keep in mind that the Doctor has now known Talia for over two month.**

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**Chapter 6: Surprise!**

I woke slowly, enjoying the comfortable feeling of total relaxation. I realised that I was no longer hurting anywhere; the bruises and cuts seemed to have disappeared. I suspected the Doctor had something to do with that and reminded myself to thank him.

I got out of bed, feeling very refreshed. After splashing my face, brushing my teeth and getting dressed I decided to go and find him. I went to the console room first, but he wasn't there, so I headed first to the med bay and then to the kitchen. No Doctor.

"Doctor!" I called, walking down the main corridor in the TARDIS. "Doctor!"

There was no reply, so I walked to his room and knocked on the door. After waiting a few seconds with not a sound, I pushed the door open. The room was empty.

"He wouldn't just leave me here." I muttered to myself.

There was only one option left, however, so I went back to the console room and pushed the front doors open.

I was home. The TARDIS was sitting on my front lawn. The front curtains were closed, so I walked around the back. I guessed the Doctor was inside with my parents and wondered how that was going.

The second I knocked on the back door, it was pulled open and the Doctor grinned down at me.

"Talia. Good to see you up and well, how are you?" he exclaimed with his usual flair.

I smiled back. "Fine now, thanks for taking care of my scratches and stuff. What about you?"

"Fine, as always." He replied lightly, and for once I knew it was true.

"So…are you going to move so I can come in and see my parents, or not?" I asked, folding my arms. "Have you told them what happened? What have you been doing? How long have you been in here?"

He held up a hand. "Hang on! One question at a time. Yes, I've explained everything. Your Dad got a bit angry at first and threatened to lock you here and force me to leave, until I explained that you saved me as well…they're very proud of you." He looked back inside for just a second. "Oh, and they were just about to start a movie because I was going to check on you…so how about we go for a little walk?"

He was acting…more hyper than normal. "Is that alright? They know that we're doing that?"

"Yeah, I was going anyway, so I'm sure they'll be fine." He assured me. Then he came out and shut the door, putting an arm around my shoulders and walking down the path. "Anyway, thank you so much, again, for what you did."

"You've done the same for me. I couldn't just let you die. I had to do whatever I could." I told him. "Although…I'm impressed you took the antidote without complaining." I smirked.

"Why? I don't know how to make it." He confessed.

"Well…it contained pear skin."

His face was one I wanted to take a picture of. You'd have thought it was _me _who poisoned him.

"Pear skin? _Pear skin?_ Oh, the antidote _would_ contain that, wouldn't it!" he grumbled, making a face, even though he hadn't actually tasted it.

"What is it you don't like about pears?" I asked. "I love them. They're sweet, and soft, like a mixture between an apple and a peach."

His rolled his eyes. "You won't understand. It's a Time Lord thing."

"What…so all of your previous selves hated pears?"

"Well, most of them. Well, some of them. Well…one or two." He trailed off and I started laughing, causing him to blush slightly.

"Anyway, so how long were you chatting with my parents? You had me scared half to death when I woke up and couldn't find you anywhere!" I cried exasperatedly, tapping him on the back.

He frowned. "It's been about an hour. Sorry, I was going to leave a note but I thought you'd be smart enough to come outside."

It was my turn to blush at his compliment.

Our walk lead us down to the small lake and then back. We went in through the back again, but he stopped me from entering. "Hold on, just a sec. I'm just going to check something."

"What?" I asked, but he was already gone. A few seconds later, he beckoned me in. "Doctor, you're acting really…Oh…My…God!"

The entire house was decked out with balloons, streamers and a large banner reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY TALIA. Of course. I'm 18 today.

Mum and Dad pulled me into a hug and wished me a happy birthday. The Doctor did the same, and I noticed he lingered a little longer than necessary with the hug.

"Thank you all so much! I actually forgot the date, it's easy to lose track in the TARDIS!" I laughed.

"The Doctor said that would be so. Tricking you and keeping you out of the house was his idea." Mum said, smiling broadly.

The gifts came later, along with a couple of cocktails to celebrate my entering adulthood. It wasn't my first time having a drink, but my first fully legal one (Dad was convinced there was a law that said I could drink in my parents' home once I turned 16…I wasn't too sure but had never checked it). Mum had gotten me a few new tops, a necklace and a new puzzle. Dad bought the entire Doctor Who boxset, series 1-4.

The Doctor asked me to come to the TARDIS for his gift. I finished the last of my second drink and followed. He disappeared into one of the back rooms.

"Close your eyes!" he called. I did so until I heard his converse squeaking on the grating, announcing his arrival. "Open."

All I could do was stare; he was holding up a red dress. It had a heart-shaped top with light, chiffon sleeves and a skirt that flared out slightly and was covered with more chiffon. Golden flowers were expertly woven into intricate patterns around the neckline, and a few threads of gold hung down from the waist. It was beautiful.

"Remember I told you I got you something in Rapor London?" he reminded me, seeming pleased at my response. I nodded, speechless. "Happy birthday."

"Y…you got this for me…after knowing me for a day?" I gasped, slowly walking over and touching the fabric. He placed it gently on the TARDIS console.

His smile made my heart melt. "Of course. You should know; I only take the best with me. I knew you would be here for a long time, so I found out your birthday from your parents. Do you really like it?"

I threw my arms around his neck. I felt happiness bubble up inside me when he returned the gesture, laughing and swinging me off my feet.

"Go on, get ready. Your parents are allowing me to take you to one of the greatest balls in the universe!" he announced.

"A ball?" I gasped. I picked up the dress and headed back to my room, calling out as I left, "You'd better wear your black tuxedo!"

"I was going to anyway, but why?" he called back.

I bit my lip. "I just…think it's appropriate, don't you?"

"Yeah."

Of course, that wasn't the reason; I actually thought the tuxedo made him look even more handsome…if that was even possible. But I wasn't going to tell him that.

I put on the dress, my new necklace along with the earrings I had bought in Rapor London, and then did some light make up. Finally, I piled my hair into a somewhat elegant style where half of it flowed down my back. I had done everything as efficiently as possible, but I wanted to look my best so it was around an hour later that I re-joined the Doctor in the console room.

He was waiting there, looking for all the world a prince awaiting his princess. For a moment I could hardly breathe as I took in his outfit, his face and his hair that he had left in a beautifully messy style. I wished he knew how I felt, so I could go over there and kiss him like I so wanted to.

Instead, after clearing my throat, I contented myself with saying, "You look nice."

Then I noticed that he was also staring at me. I felt my face heat up; did I dare think that he might feel something more than companionship towards me?

"Well, you look positively beautiful." His voice was low, as though he didn't want to spoil the moment with his usual, obnoxious rambling.

"Thank you." I said just as quietly, averting my eyes before they gave too much away. He walked over and offered me his arm, which I took, hoping his Time Lord senses couldn't hear my heart hammering in my chest. Who knows? Perhaps he could feel the love practically radiating out from me. If he could…I was done for.

But if that was the case, he let nothing of it on, walking calmly with me out of the TARDIS. In front of us was a huge castle, which we entered with a brief nod at the psychic paper. The room inside was the biggest ballroom I had ever seen.

Everything was either marble or gold-plated. Columns lined the edges, arcing up into a huge ceiling that was beautifully mosaicked. Dancers of all shapes and sizes crowded the floor, and a bar stood at the far end. I even saw quite a few humans about.

On the left was the orchestra. Currently they were playing a beautiful piece of music that was clearly non-terrestrial.

"Would you like to dance?" the Doctor's low voice in my ear made me jump, but I nodded, my heartbeat increasing again.

As though he was an expert, he led me into the crowd and took up a waltzing position. I couldn't help the shiver that went down my spine as he placed his hand around my waist and we began to dance. Gently, he spun me around the floor until the song ended.

I did my best not to stare into his eyes for too long, afraid to lose myself completely, but he seemed willing enough when our eyes did meet not to break the contact. When the music changed to a more upbeat tune, he adapted quickly and I laughed out of sheer joy at the skill with which he twirled me around the dance floor, dipping me and bringing us together and apart in a fluid series of motions.

After that song had finished, he led me over to the bar. It all felt incredibly romantic, but I wondered if that was his intention or not. I suddenly got a mischievous, and slightly selfish idea.

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**A/N: Ha ha...When you read the next chapter, don't kill me. It was a random idea I came up with one day and thought it was really funny. Hope you all do too. BTW, who else loved it when 10 wore his tuxedo?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I have forgotten to mention when this story takes place in relation to the series. Sorry...*hides behind the TARDIS*. Anyway, basically this, for the Doctor, is after Planet of the Dead but before the Waters of Mars. Oh and remember this chapter is really random at the beginning, but I thought it was fun so I hope you all do, too.**

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**Chapter 7: An Experiment**

"Doctor, can Time Lords get drunk?" I asked innocently.

He raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Not in the way humans can."

I smirked. "How about we test that?" I looked at the barman. "Two banana daiquiris, please."

He chuckled. "You're not?"

"I am." I confirmed.

Six banana daiquiris later – only one of which was mine – I found myself struggling hard not to laugh at the Doctor who had not closed his mouth for the last ten minutes. I didn't even realise what he was going on about.

"And you see that's a Krillanian. They're from the planet Ouscarbos. Great place, Ouscarbos. Lots of water. Lots of plants. Famous for this thing called karach. Don't know quite what it is but it does give you one hell of an energy spike. I remember…"

He went on for several more minutes. I noted his slightly glazed eyes and the grin that never left his face and realised that I had succeeded; he was now a more-than-slightly-tipsy Time Lord. I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

As I did, he seemed to come out of it just a bit and he looked at me sharply. It only lasted a second before his face slackened back into the content glee, but his words remained more serious.

"Well, I did warn you."

"About what?" I asked. Having only had one more drink since arriving at the ball, I was relatively sober compared to him.

"Though it takes quite a lot more for Time Lords to get drunk than it does humans," he clarified, raising a finger as though telling a young child, "Once we get to that stage it affects us about twice as much."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see in about ten minutes. But trust me, you'll regret doing this to me." Though he tried to sound angry, he ended on a giggle which sent me into fits of laughter that I couldn't hold in any longer.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, I really am!" I chuckled. "But you were fully aware of what I was doing and you let me!"

He grinned. "I know."

Suddenly he stood up…and stumbled. I jumped to my feet to steady him, still laughing.

"How about one more dance?" he asked, indicating the crowd of creatures.

I shook my head. "Not your best idea. If we go out there you'll start knocking people over. I think we should get you back to the TARDIS."

"Ok." He agreed willingly, chuckling to himself about something. I kept a close eye on him as he sauntered ahead towards the doors. When he reached them he looked back at me to make sure I was only a few feet behind. "Did I tell you how pretty you looked tonight?"

I smiled, feeling hot once again. "Yeah, but thanks again. Did I tell you how handsome you looked?"

"In so many words." He replied lightly. He allowed me to catch up and we continued the short walk to the TARDIS. A few metres away, he started leaning more heavily on me. "Ok, it's starting to hit in a bad way now." He said with a high-pitched chuckle.

"Are you alright?" I asked. I had to check, I hope I hadn't gone too far in my prank.

He nodded as we stepped over the threshold – I had to remind him of the step. We headed to his room. As we walked in he stopped, making a face.

"Ah, it's been ages since I've felt this." He muttered.

"What?"

"My head!" he groaned. "It feels like the world's spinning. We aren't in flight yet, are we?"

"No." I looked at him, concerned. He seemed quite pale. "Doctor, you didn't let me go too far, did you?"

After another moan of discomfort, holding a hand to his head, he replied. "No, but close." Then he focused on me for a second. "You're going to have hell from me in the morning."

Without any warning, he collapsed. I was impressed that I wasn't knocked down, managing to keep him from crushing me while I lifted him onto the bed. I still found the whole situation funny, but knew that his threat was serious. Tomorrow morning would either be interesting, or my worst nightmare.

Option two.

"TALIA DINCER!" The Doctor's voice echoed through the TARDIS, sounding rather like a pissed Barty Crouch Jr. Oh. Crap.

I woke abruptly, memories of the previous night flowing through my mind. I quickly grabbed the clock at the side of my bed. 10:00am. I swore in my mind, both at the lateness of my sleeping in and the rage the Doctor was in.

"I'VE GOT A HEADACHE THE SIZE OF MOUNT OLYMPUS ON MARS, I'VE BEEN ILL ALL MORNING AND IF YOU DON'T GET IN HERE AND APOLOGISE RIGHT NOW I WILL LAND US IN THE ICY PLAINS OF KALISTOS AND LOCK YOU OUT!"

The ultimatum would be carried out if I didn't get out there, so I scrambled out of bed and dashed in the direction of the voice. He was in the kitchen.

He sat at the table, nursing a cup of tea. I took a moment to take in his appearance. In one word: Cute. In two: Very bad. His hair was ruffled beyond compare, dark shadows showed under his eyes and he was still in his tuxedo, bowtie undone.

But then my thoughts of how adorable he looked were stopped short as he fixed me with all the force of the Oncoming Storm in a glare.

I gulped. "I truly am so sorry. If you'd told me, or I knew that it would be this bad, I wouldn't have done that." I slowly walked over, taking the seat opposite him and pouring myself a cup of tea. He didn't look away.

Finally he shrugged. "I know part of it is my fault, I should have stopped you. But you seemed like you were having so much fun that I just let you go. Now I'm seriously regretting that."

"How are you feeling now?" I asked, relaxing.

He let out a soft laugh. "Slightly better since you've apologised." He confessed. "But I still think I'm going to skip breakfast today."

There was silence for a few minutes while we finished our tea. Then he clapped his hands together and stood up. "Right, where do you want to go?"

I stared at him, surprised. "I thought you might want to stay in the TARDIS today."

He shook his head. "Nah, I think some fresh air will do us both good."

He walked out towards the console room. I followed. He was already punching in coordinates.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "Wait and see."

Suddenly the TARDIS jolted violently, throwing me into one of the railings. Several buttons exploded and sparked. "What happened?" I yelled.

"Um…I'm not too sure." He replied, pulling himself towards the console and pulling several levers as the room continued to throw me around. I gripped onto a railing to steady myself.

Then the TARDIS just…turned off. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark and my head stopped spinning from all the tossing and turning, I also realised that we'd landed. This felt eerily familiar somehow, and I tried to think of which episode something similar had happened.

"Now Talia, don't panic." The Doctor said. "But…well…I _think _we've landed in a parallel world."

"Again!" I cried. "For something you are so adamant is impossible, it sure seems to be happening a lot! Pete's world, twice, my world…"

He gave me a look that could almost be apologetic. I drifted towards the doors, curious as to what it was like out there. He dashed in front of me.

"I think, under the circumstances, I should go first." He noted, before opening the doors.

We were greeted with a jungle. If this was a parallel Earth, I would guess this was somewhere in Africa. A small shiver ran down my spine as I remembered what else was in Africa; the Sahara desert.

The Doctor led the way into the forest. He turned back to me when I didn't follow, nervous. "It's alright, just remember the rule: don't get tempted. We must stay together. We'll be fine, we just need to waste time for a day. By the way, we're not on Earth, but this planet has been colonised by humans."

I tentatively followed him, hoping that we wouldn't run into any wild Cybermen. However, after half an hour of climbing over fallen logs, traipsing through bogs and avoiding moss-covered vines, my concerns were more towards what might have bitten me.

"Why did we have to go _through _the jungle." I gasped, pulling my foot out of a patch of sticky mud. It was a good thing I had the sensibility to put on hiking boots that morning.

The Doctor, who's coat and suit was similarly spoiled, shrugged. "The adventure of it? I don't know, I didn't think it'd be this bad!"

I could only roll my eyes and continue the trek.

A short while later, shouting met our ears.

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed. "That's more like it! Civilization!"

I let out a laugh. Civilisation, bah! Probably some tribal people who would attempt to boil us in a large cauldron.

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**A/N: Yeah, probably, but then, Doctor Who never goes for the 'probably'. Or does it? You decide until I update. Lol, can you all just picture poor Talia (she's got dark blond hair BTW) locked outside the TARDIS on a place colder than Antarctica?**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Well, have we truly landed in a parallel world? Are we about to be boiled over a cauldron? Let's find out!**

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**Chapter 8: Seeing Double**

I wasn't too far off. We entered into a clearing, around the edges of which stood around fifty tree houses. There were definitely tribal people around, well, tribal aliens, yet the village was also slightly modernised. Humans were dotted here and there, there seemed to be a structure to the layout, and some of the humanoid aliens wore modern clothing. There was even a road. I almost felt a twinge of annoyance at the fact that the people had to give up so much of their culture due to colonisation.

We strode towards the town centre, several faces peeping through glassless-windows and half-broken doors to stare at the two new, white people who had entered their village. There was no hostility however, just mere curiosity.

As soon as someone, who seemed to be the leader of the community, approached and asked who we were in some strange language, the Doctor launched into a reply as though he'd been speaking the tribal language his whole life. He was obviously explaining some story as to why we were here and he told me that the chief offered us a place to stay the night. He told us where to go, then left.

I looked around, feeling much more comfortable now they knew we were harmless, and spotted a sign. "What does that say?" I asked, pointing.

"Oh! There's a market down that way." The Doctor exclaimed, gesturing. "Do you want to go and wander around?"

I nodded. "Sure! But what are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "Wander around, find out what there is to do in this place, find out where exactly we are, that sort of thing. You stay out of trouble. I'll come find you soon."

I grinned. "No, _you_ stay out of trouble. Last time you left me at a market we were chased by a Judoon."

He winked at me before sauntering off. I let out an exasperated sigh before heading towards the market.

Roughly half an hour and several delicious native fruit tastings later, I spotted a stall selling crafts made in the village. There was everything from woven baskets to wood-carved figurines. I admired the latter for a few minutes before choosing one that I thought the Doctor might like; it was tall and thin, like him, but had shining brown eyes. I reached to grab it and found my hand blocked by another.

"Oh, sorry!" we both said at the same time.

I blinked and turned towards the person. Then I started and jumped several feet backwards. She did the same, for we realised that we were identical. If anything, she was a year older.

"Parallel me." I muttered to myself. "Right. Hi!"

She blinked several times. "Parallel…no! No, no, I'm…well, I'm you from the future."

"What?" I gasped. "So…hang on. He was wrong, we didn't land in a parallel world, the TARDIS malfunctioning was because of the paradox!"

"Your TARDIS malfunctioned as well! How annoying!" future-me exclaimed. "You're travelling with the old Doctor, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Wait… we stayed with him after he regenerated?" I asked, pleased with the thought.

She nodded. "Sure! We wouldn't leave him, you yourself knew that."

I looked down. "Was it hard?"

She also stared at her feet and nodded. "Yeah. Especially those first few weeks. But he was very similar in many ways, and he was really sweet about it. He understood, even though he could never be as human as the old Doctor."

I gave a small smile. "I'm glad we continue to be happy, though. Is Amy with you?"

"Not at the moment. In fact, she just left to spend some time with Rory." She answered. "It was sort of a relief to get those two out of the TARDIS."

"Ugh, I can imagine."

We shared a laugh.

"Talia! I was just looking for…what?"

The Doctor's chirpy voice ended in utter confusion as he took in the two of us.

"Doctor," I began with a chuckle. "Meet future me."

Future me just stared, a hint of sorrow and longing showing in her eyes.

"Oh…not a parallel world…oh…hi!" he started off quietly but ended with his usual enthusiasm.

She smiled at him, but the sadness still showed in her eyes. "Hi…Doctor."

I noted how her voice was slightly off on that word.

The Doctor looked down at me with a frown, noticing himself. "Why does she seem so sad to see me? Do I do something to hurt you in the future?"

"No!" I gasped quickly. "Nothing like that. It's just…the regeneration was a sad event.

"Oh." He said again, looking somewhat sadly at the other me. "I'm sorry."

Her smile became more genuine. "No need to be sorry. Don't worry, we'll have a talk about it when it happens, before and after. It was just a bit of a shock when I saw you."

He nodded understandingly. "But you're happy with the next me?"

"Yeah, of course, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

I nodded. "Trust me…us…you know what I mean!"

He laughed.

The other me tapped me on the shoulder. "Can I have a moment with him?"

"Of course."

I told the Doctor and they walked off. I continued my browsing, wondering if I would remember this meeting as how I am now, or would I experience it again once I was older?

"Ah, there you are, Talia!" a voice which I recognised called. I turned around with a shock, to see the eleventh Doctor striding towards me. "TARDIS's fixed herself up. We're out of here, before the paradox, whatever's causing it, grows."

Without another word, he grabbed my hand and began pulling me towards where his TARDIS was parked.

"But…Doctor…!" I tried to explain, but he cut me off.

"Yes, I know, 'how has the TARDIS fixed up so quickly', 'we never found out what caused the paradox'. It doesn't matter, I just want to get out before it gets bigger. I'll explain in a moment."

"No, that's not what I…"

"Shh!"

I forgot how pushy he could be and hoped he wasn't like this to me too often. I huffed, but let him drag me into the TARDIS without a fuss. That is…until we started taking off.

"Doctor! Just wait a second!" I shouted, but he seemed completely deaf to me, firing up the engines. I started to panic when I realised we were now moving through the time vortex. "Doctor!"

Finally he looked up. "Alright, what is it?" he sounded annoyed.

"I'm. Not. Your. Talia!" I hissed.

He stared blankly for a few seconds. "What?"

"The paradox was because the old you and me landed there as well. I met the future me, who wanted to go and have a moment with the old Doctor. Then you showed up and thought I was her." I said very slowly as though explaining to a child, which the eleventh Doctor often reminded me of.

He blinked. "Damn."

"Mmm-hmm!" I gasped. "Now can you please take me back. Exact time and place, if possible!"

He blinked again. "Er…yes, yes of course. So sorry for the mix-up." He instantly set the coordinates. "So, you knew who I was even then, huh?"

"Yep."

"Why did you never hint?"

I winked. "Spoilers!"

"Oh! You know about River, too!" he gasped.

"Yep."

He rolled his eyes.

All of a sudden, I started feeling light-headed and slightly shaky. I shook my head, thinking it was just vertigo – although I had never before experienced it in the TARDIS. It only made it worse. The Doctor looked at me, noticing.

"Talia, are you alright? You've gone very pale." His concern produced a brief spark of gratitude.

"No." I mumbled as my shaking knees began threatening to give out. "I just started feeling…really weird."

He came over and kept me steady by putting his hands on my shoulders. My head felt so heavy that I couldn't seem to lift it higher than his bowtie. "Can you see me?"

"Barely." I breathed. What I could see of him was extremely blurred. My mind seemed to be spinning.

"Listen to me." His voice was urgent. "I know it's difficult, but you must think. Have you done anything today, consumed anything or touched anything that could have led to this?"

I forced myself to go back over the day. I was sure no poisonous plant or bug had gotten to me in the forest, as the Doctor had kept up a constant stream of information about every living thing we passed.

"I did eat some fruit in the market. I don't remember the names of a lot of them, though." I confessed. It became a much harder struggle to stay conscious.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you."

Those words, heard to me in a different voice, were the last thing I registered before everything dissolved in a tumbling whirlwind of colour.

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**A/N: I'm surprised how long you all put up with me with the amount of cliffhangers I give you XD.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: whovianpower has been bugging me to update XD (thanks a lot, btw, I never thought anyone would like my story this much ^_^) so here is Chapter 9.**

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**Chapter 9: 11 Cares Too**

_After that, all was black. I couldn't see anything or hear anything. I couldn't even feel. I was in a strange place, and I didn't know where that was._

_After an unmeasurable amount of time, a light appeared. Almost unconsciously, I moved towards it. Closer and closer until it engulfed me and I found myself standing in a white room._

_ "__Turn around."_

_I obeyed the voice, which I realised was the Doctor. The new Doctor. He stood a metre away from me, concern on his face._

_ "__Hello." I said. "Where are we?"_

_ "__In your mind." He replied. "I am…sorry, but I had to enter it. It's the only way to save you."_

_I frowned. "I didn't know you could do that. I mean, the previous you could, but you've never really…"_

_A faint smile crossed his face. "Doesn't matter. Point is, I did it. Now, as to why you're here. You told me you were eating some fruit at that market. Well, after conducting some tests on your body – which, by the way, is comatose – I discovered that one of those fruits was called Ghrean."_

_ "__What's Ghrean?" I asked._

_ "__The only fruit you shouldn't have eaten." He muttered ominously. "It's extremely poisonous to humans, although harmless to the natives. All the colonials living on that planet know this."_

_ "__Why didn't the lady at the stall tell me?" I demanded._

_ "__Probably because she thought you weren't human, as much as you appear to be one. She wouldn't imagine any human would touch Ghrean. Your Doctor didn't warn you of it?"_

_I shook my head. "He didn't mention anything dangerous."_

_The Doctor's face hardened. "Idiot."_

_ "__Hey!" I leapt to my Doctor's defence. "He almost never forgets anything! Don't get on his back because of one incident."_

_In a fit of emotion, the Doctor closed the gap between me and grabbed my shoulders roughly. "You don't understand! This one incident may cost you your life!"_

_It was then that I realised that post-regeneration, the Doctor's caring nature towards me never changed. Even though I was Talia from the past, he still desired to keep me from harm._

_I took a deep breath. "Alright, is there an antidote? Is there anything that can be done?"_

_He pulled back. "Yes, except it is difficult to get. There are many different planets to visit. I will do it though, don't think I'm hesitant. Well, enough chit-chat, I've got to get started."_

_He turned to leave through a door that I only just realised was there._

_ "__Oh, and by the way! Try not to wake up. If you do, you will find your body in extreme pain, and I think you'd prefer if you didn't experience that." He cautioned._

_ "__Ok." I replied. "Thank you."_

_He opened the door, and the room disappeared, replaced by the black nothingness again._

_It could have been hours or days later that the light and the room appeared again. I quickly located the Doctor._

_ "__I have the antidote." He announced, although he looked grim._

_ "__You make it sound like that's a bad thing?"_

_ "__The bad part is that you have to be conscious before I can administer it. You remember what I told you last time?"_

_I nodded with a shiver. "Yeah."_

_ "__I'm sorry. It won't be for long, but it has to be done."_

_ "__I…I understand. Will you wake me up yourself?"_

_ "__Yes. It'll be easier that way. All you have to do is follow me."_

_He indicated the door. _

_I swallowed and took a few deep breaths, before reminding myself that I'd been through pain before. "I'm ready."_

_He took my hand and we walked through the door._

As he had promised, conscious was accompanied by waves upon waves of sharp, stinging pain all over my body. It clouded my vision and made me feel very disorientated, but I realised that I was on a table of some sort. Probably in the med bay. Though I tried to hide it, I couldn't help a gasp escape my lips.

"I'm administering the antidote now."

The Doctor's voice was brisk, as though trying to convey to me the speed of the procedure. But surely he understood that every second of agony was like an hour?

I closed my eyes again and let out another groan, tensing. "Make it stop!"

I felt his hand on my arm. Again, I was glad that he cared for me just as much as the other Doctor. "Soon. The antidote will work faster with you awake. The pain should begin to fade in just a few minutes."

I nodded, hoping for the truth of his statement. When finally the pain did begin to back off, I let my body go entirely limp. Hot, bothered and aching all over, I lay there, panting.

"That…was…something I'd rather not experience again." I gasped. "Thank you."

He chuckled slightly. "You're welcome. And hopefully you won't have to. You're lucky you were with me, in a way."

"Yeah."

"Is there anything you want or need? I think you should rest again soon."

I felt guilty for voicing my request, and wouldn't have if he hadn't of asked, but decided I'd better. "Can you take me back, please?"

"Of course." He said without hesitation. "Besides, it'd be nice to get a Talia back who remembers all of the adventures we'd had together."

"Am I still happy?" I asked. It was an odd question, but I needed to know.

"I can't really reveal much about your future." He warned.

"I know. I just…always worry about how I'll be after the regeneration. Whether I'm mean to you or anything." I confessed.

"No, no, nothing like that. You don't hurt my feelings, if that's what you mean. Of course, there are times when I sense you reminiscing about the old me, and it's only natural that you will miss him. But you never tell me you'd rather have him back, and you so far haven't even considered leaving."

I smiled, before being content to fall silent as he got up to direct the TARDIS to her destination.

I must have slipped into a light sleep for the next thing I knew the Doctor was in the middle of picking me up.

"Hang on! I'll walk!" I cried, dazedly shocked at first when the wrong Doctor's face appeared in front of me.

He blinked, but seemed amused. "Alright, but we'll take it slow. You're still recovering."

He was right. I still felt shaky on my legs and so leaned on him a bit, but was determined not to seem completely helpless.

We were met by my Doctor and the future me as soon as we opened the door, the former looking quite annoyed.

"You…complete thickhead!" he snapped at the new Doctor. "Can't you even fly the TARDIS straight? It's been a week! And what have you done to my Talia?"

He came over to me and lifted my head, studying me for any sign of illness.

"No, you're the idiot!" the other Doctor retorted. "How could you not warn her about Ghrean? I just saved her life!"

My Doctor reeled back, wide-eyed. "They-they have Ghrean on this planet?"

"Yes, you nitwit, and Talia, because she didn't know, ate some! I've spent the last few days planet-hopping to get all the antidote's ingredients, so don't you yell at me for being a week out of tune!"

My Doctor instantly removed me from the arm of the other, wrapping his own very protectively around me, something which made my heart flutter as it was quite a possessive move.

"Don't be angry at him." I murmured. "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here."

My Doctor's face softened somewhat.

There was an angry rumbling sound from the TARDIS.

"Ooh, doesn't like the paradox of us two." The new Doctor commented.

"You and your Talia should leave then." My Doctor said, though not abruptly.

She nodded. "It's been…wonderful to spend the last week with you, Doctor, as I have missed you so much. But as I'm sure he's aware, I've grown to like travelling with him. Besides, staying with you any longer would probably blow a hole in the universe the size of Belgium, so it'd better be avoided."

The two Doctors laughed and the older me gave us both a hug before walking towards the TARDIS.

"Take care of her!" The new Doctor warned. "I don't want to be on some planet with her and she suddenly disappears, all right?"

He nodded. "Believe me, I will."

"Ok then. Talia, you'll be seeing me then. I'm not too sure how soon, though." He winked. I hoped it wouldn't be too soon.

"Bye!" I waved. He, too, walked to his TARDIS and soon it was disappearing.

The Doctor looked down at me. "You seem very tired."

"I am." I said, smothering a yawn that had arisen to prove his comment. "Let's get back to our TARDIS."

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**A/N: Now there's a break of about a day between this and the next chapter. Let's all remember that the Doctor still needs to get Talia back for getting him tipsy!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So this is where the Doctor gets his revenge for Talia getting him tipsy at the ball. I know this seems over done, really over done, but this is the Doctor. Even in his Tenth life, he still didn't fully understand human emotions. Besides, I couldn't come up with a more dramatic way for me to tell him...well...just wait and see ^_^**

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**Chapter 10: The Doctor Goes Too Far**

"So, the next spot is Paris, Earth in…1953 He seemed trying to act very normal. I was going to make a comment about the amount of cracks in the universe we had come across (or tried to come across) when even one is meant to be impossible, but then I decided against saying anything.

I smiled. "Earth! Nice, I've had enough alien worlds. But, knowing our luck, we'll probably run into something."

He shot me a worried look. "If you want, you can stay in the TARDIS this time. Relax."

I shook my head. "Nah, wouldn't miss it! So, has the TARDIS given us any idea on where to find the crack?"

"What?" he looked blank.

I stared, sure he was joking. "The rip in the universe? The hole leading to Pete's world? That's what we're doing, isn't it? Looking for Rose?" I had to admit that I felt a slight pang of jealousy. I knew how much the Doctor loved Rose…but each day it became harder and harder to hide my own feelings for him that had become so much stronger than the crush I used to have on David Tennant.

"Y-yeah. Of course. Well, there's not one here exactly but I just wanted to do a quick stop off. There's something I wanted to show you."

He spoke hesitantly at first but more natural towards the end, so I passed off his brief memory lapse as a side-effect of his hangover. "Okay. Let's go!"

Grinning, he landed us and I went to open the door, coming face to face with the Eiffel Tower itself. "Wow. Paris is…not as amazing as I was expecting."

The streets were filthy. Rubbish and who knows what else littered the cobbled ground…and the many people dressed all fancy with their noses in the air just walked past!

The Doctor grimaced. "Yeah, not the best time for Paris, the 50s. Anyway, I hope you're not afraid of heights; we're going right to the top."

"Of the Eiffel Tower?"

"Yup."

I chuckled at the way he popped the 'p'. "You won't find me scared of heights. Except I am scared of spiders…"

We looked at each other and chorused, "Racnoss."

I shivered, then followed him towards the elevator. He held up the psychic paper, which I assumed was some pass or something to get to the top free of charge, for the man in the booth nodded and opened the elevator.

We stepped in and it started going up. I looked over at the Doctor, surprised at his silence. Usually, he would be giving me a history lesson on how the tower was built, or what alien influence had impacted on Paris. But he was frowning.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "I just feel like something's waiting for us up there."

"Oh, no! Don't say that!" I gasped. "It's probably true!"

He gave me a look that told me he wasn't joking.

The elevator clanged to a stop. The doors opened…

And I almost passed out in fright. Standing in front of us were three Daleks, weapons pointed right at us.

"It is the Doctor and his companion! Exterminate! Exterminate!" they screamed.

The Doctor's screwdriver was in his hand in a heartbeat, buzzing at the elevator's control panel. The doors shut again just as the lasers were fired. I felt light-headed at how close we had just come to death.

"Daleks!" I gasped. "They bloody follow you everywhere!"

"Don't swear." He admonished vacantly, staring at the doors in shock. He was listening for something. "They're following us down, gliding down after us."

"What do we do?" I asked.

He bit his lip in thought. "As soon as those doors open, run for the TARDIS." He told me.

"You'll follow, right?"

"Of course. I just want you to go first." He stressed. "I'm not going to stop. I'll be right behind you."

"Okay."

_Ding!_

I sprinted for the blue wooden door, keeping my ears open for the sound of the Doctor's converse behind me. The screams of the Daleks seemed to burn into my brain.

"Exterminate the Doctor! Exterminate his companion!"

I threw myself into the TARDIS. The Doctor was a few steps behind, having to avoid lasers left, right and centre. As he, too, leapt through the doorway, a laser struck him, briefly outlining his skeleton.

"Doctor!" I yelled.

He was shivering and shaking with pain, but he dragged himself up to slam the door shut. Then he pointed the screwdriver at the console to get us in flight again.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I knelt next to him. He lay down fully, panting, his face screwed up with the intensity of the pain.

"No." I whispered, cradling his face with my hands. "No, no, no. You can't go. You can't regenerate. Not now."

He lifted a hand to show me. "It's too late." He gasped.

It was beginning to glow. With a choking sob, I interlocked my fingers with his. "Please. There must be something you can do. Channel the energy into the TARDIS, maybe. Surely she could handle it. Please!" I couldn't hold it back any longer. Through my tears, I told him. "I love you…in this form. I may not if you change. Your personality will be different. Your face will be different. Doctor, I love you, and I don't want you to go."

I brought his shining hand to my cheek, gripping it as though the very force of my emotion would keep him here.

"My next form…will love you, just as I do." He murmured.

I sucked in a gasp; he had just said it. Those words. The words that had never left his mouth before.

"B-but it won't be you." I insisted.

"I'll…do what…I can." He vowed. "Now, get back!"

I obeyed, knowing from experience how destructive a regeneration could be. He pulled himself slowly to his feet, struggling with every movement. Then it truly began, and he exploded with golden energy.

I watched from the other side of the room, eyes fixed on his face, anticipating the change. A few seconds passed and then my already aching heart seemed to twist and squeeze itself into a very painful knot; his features started to morph.

Then just as suddenly, the golden light disappeared and he was grinning at me, same as always.

"Doctor?" I felt shaken.

"And that, Miss Dincer, was my revenge for the other night." He announced smugly.

"W…what?"

"Everything you just saw, the Daleks, me getting hit, the regeneration…was all a holographic projection beamed straight into your mind from the TARDIS, with me acting it out of course."

My brain took two point four seconds to process what he'd just told me. Then I walked up to him and slapped him as hard as I could.

The tears that I had been barely holding back during his 'regeneration' now spilled down my cheeks.

"How could you?" I screamed at him. "How could you just play with my emotions like that? What I did last night was in _no way_ comparable to this! I played a _prank_! You've made me think my entire _world_ was falling apart!" I stopped to catch my breath, wiping my eyes angrily.

"Talia, I-I'm sorry. I didn't…r-realise…" he was trying to form an apology, trying to reach out. I smacked his hand away.

"No! You're not that thick, Doctor, you were surely aware of how I felt about you and you made me confess it without any shame because I thought you were dying!" I raised my hand to slap him again. He stood, ready to take it, but I closed my hand into a tight fist and lowered it. "You went way too far." I whispered.

Then I turned and ran down to my room, making sure he could hear me crying.

Slamming and locking the door shut – though I knew it would be pointless if he wanted to get in – I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face in the pillow, sobbing out all the emotions that had been tossed around. Sorrow. Anger. Fear. Love.

After ten minutes or so, I heard him knock. At least he wasn't rude enough to just sonic his way in.

"Talia, I know I don't deserve anything after what I just did, but could you ever forgive me?"

His muffled voice sounded as though he, too, was close to tears. I felt a strange sort of satisfaction, overshadowing the sympathy that also rose, as I realised he truly regretted what he'd done.

"No. Go away and take me home." I snapped, sitting up and wiping my eyes.

There was a pause. "I really messed up, didn't I?"

"More than I think even you realise." The bitterness I felt practically coated my words.

Another pause. "Please, Talia. I'll make it up to you. I'll do anything, go anywhere! Anything! I don't want you to leave!"

I groaned, flinging myself onto my back. Why did he have to sound so sad? "Two things that I think you should know, Doctor. First, unlock that door. I hate talking to people I can't see." I waited until he'd done so. "Second, you clearly don't know as much about humans as you think." He waited, staring at me almost anxiously. "If you were really that dumb that you couldn't see how…crazy I was about you…then you've a lot more to learn about us. All your companions, all human, and still…" I let it hang, glaring at him.

He looked down, ashamed. "I honestly didn't know. You shocked me when you confessed it. I noticed things, sure, but I thought it was just a light thing. What you would call a…a crush. If I had any inclination of how much that would hurt you, I would never have done it. It never entered my mind that you cared so much that it would affect you this badly if I were to regenerate."

My eyes prickled again at his words, but I was drained of tears. He approached slowly, reaching towards me again. "You said you'd do anything, right?"

I needed some consolation. I couldn't just accept his apology, no matter how sweet his face got.

"Anything." He agreed.

"Right, there are three things I want you to do for us to be even." I began. He nodded eagerly. "First off, eat a pear."

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**A/N: If you haven't seen it/aren't aware, go to YouTube and look for 'doctor who season 3 outtake'. Watch and laugh. You'll understand the pear thing.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yay. So I hope most of you got the pear thing. For those who didn't: The Doctor HATES pears. Bit of fluff in this one and a return of the scariest NuWho aliens. *dramatic drum beat***

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**Chapter 11: Emotions and Angels**

His eyebrows rose high, followed by a frown. "What?"

"You heard me." I repeated. "I want you to eat a pear. You hate them, but you want to make up with me. Do it."

I was impressed at how passive he kept his expression as he went to the kitchen and returned with a green pear in his hand. He was eyeing it with utter disdain.

"All of it?"

I fought back a sudden urge to laugh. Deciding to take pity on him, I'd make him make up for it later, I said, "Two bites. But you must swallow them."

Whether he was being dramatic for my entertainment, or whether Time Lords really did despise pears, he made it look like eating poison. I was further impressed that his bites weren't tiny, as expected. Once the ordeal was over, he threw it back down the corridor as though it was contaminated. Then he turned back to me.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I started giggling, then went into full blown laughter, rocking back and forth on the bed, shaking my head at how ridiculous that was.

"Satisfied?" he asked. I quickly wiped the grin off my face.

"Almost. There were three things, remember?"

"Are they going to be as bad as that?"

I licked my lips to hide a smile. "No. I want you to take me to the best resort you know of and let me have a day there. Also, what I really want…is one of your hugs that lets me know everything will be alright."

I gulped, having not meant to say it like that. He smiled at me, kneeling so we were level.

"Remember earlier, when you reminded me about looking for Rose?" he asked. I nodded, wondering why he had brought that up suddenly. "I lied. It truly had gone to the back of my mind because I remembered, well…I remembered when I first met Donna. I realised she was right. I don't do well on my own. That's what finding Rose was all about. But the other day, after you saved me from the Gromnans, I realised that finding her was nearly impossible. Besides, she had a life of her own, now. She had her own Doctor. But now I've got you. I'm not alone anymore." He smiled warmly at me. I was stunned into silence; the Doctor rarely grew this serious unless there was something life-threatening. "You asked me for a hug…I can do one better." He countered. "You have forgotten one very important aspect of the horrible ordeal I just put you through."

"What?" I asked, tilting my head on one side.

"I also confessed my feelings for you."

Then he leaned in and kissed me. It took me a second to realise that my wish had come true, and then I kissed him back, twining my hands into his hair as I'd wanted to do for so long. His hands snaked their way around my neck, pulling me closer to him as my heart danced for joy in my chest. The blood rushed loudly in my ears and for a moment I feared I would swoon from the overload of bliss.

Then, slowly, he pulled away. I remained still, eyes closed, relishing the moment. I was very dazed, only aware of him still in front of me.

He snapped his fingers in front of my eyes, laughing. "Talia?"

I opened them slowly, a lazy grin coming to my face. "That was my first kiss." I confessed.

His eyes widened. "It was? Oh…I'm…I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked.

"J-just…" He was so cute when he was rendered speechless. "What about that resort?"

"Yes." I agreed. "But it can wait a few more seconds. Don't worry, Doctor, I very much enjoyed that. In fact…"

I leaned in and kissed him again. When we pulled away, he sat next to me on the bed and gave me the embrace I asked for. I almost cried again at the beauty of how such a horrible day ended with this.

We headed back to the console room after a few minutes and he set the coordinates for a mysterious resort, promising me it would give me the pampering of a lifetime. To be honest I wasn't too fussed, but I decided to make him carry out his sentence.

Until my phone rang.

"Talia!" Mum's voice on the other end sounded anxious.

"Hi, Mum, what's wrong?" I asked.

"You and the Doctor have got to get home now!"

I quickly told the Doctor to head home immediately and, after doing so, he came to stand next to me to hear what she was saying. "That thing…that Octavian that tried to kill you both that night came back. It's captured us and it said if we ever try to escape it will use its secret weapon."

"What's the secret weapon?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"I don't know, but I have a hunch. It said something about an angel." She replied.

I froze, my hand almost dropping the phone as coldness swept through me. The Doctor grabbed it from my hand.

"Talia! Talia, you know what that means, don't you!" I could hear her anxious voice.

"Listen to me, Rebecca, this is the Doctor. Don't panic. Keep yourself and your husband safe. Under no circumstances are you to do anything that will make it use the Angel. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I know, I know what it is. Is Talia alright?"

"She's…fine. We're on our way."

He hung up and came over to me. He stood in front of me and bent down so we were level.

"Talia, listen. It's going to be alright. We'll rescue them."

"B-but the Weeping Angel…? And…he let her call me, it's obviously a trap."

I tried to stop my hands from shaking. He took one of mine in his.

"I know. But I've escaped them before and I can do it again, and make sure you and your family are safe." He promised.

I nodded, composing myself, as the sound of the TARDIS landing echoed in the room.

The Doctor went out first, beckoning to me. We were outside my house. The curtains were closed, but the Doctor calmly walked up and unlocked the front door with the screwdriver.

I wasn't entirely prepared for the scene that met me. Mum and Dad were suspended on a wall, tied up and blindfolded. The Octavian stood before them, turning when we entered. It really did look like a giant owl; its feathers completely black. But its feet weren't claws. In fact, I couldn't see its feet. It was as though the feathers were a floor-length cloak.

But my eyes were fixed on the Angel. It was only a few metres away from my parents, a mirror placed in front of it to keep it immobile…for now.

"Move and I take away the mirror." The Octavian hissed, walking – or rather, gliding – over to us. I flinched as its feathers brushed my arm.

"I'm here now. It's me you want." The Doctor said. "Release Talia's parents."

"Oh no. I know you well, Doctor. You see, you hate seeing your companions hurt. If I kill the girl's parents, you will get to see her suffer before you, too, meet your end."

He frowned. "You can't…"

"Watch me."

It swept its wing over the Doctor's face, leaving a confused expression there.

"What did it do?" I asked him, staring at the scene with wide-eyes.

He swallowed hard before responding. "Blinded me. I can't see."

And if he couldn't see the Angel…

The Octavian was already going to do the same to me. I ran over to my parents. In the split second it took me to do so, the Octavian realised my plan and swiped the mirror away from the Angel. I fixed my gaze on it instantly.

The blood rushed loudly in my ears.

"Talia, what's going on?" The Doctor asked, while behind me my parents were calling my name.

"I'm looking at the Angel, Doctor." I replied. "I'm not going to let it get my parents."

"You will have to blink sooner or later, human." The Octavian taunted, staring at me – and specifically not the Angel.

"What does it mean?" Dad was asking.

I took a deep breath, winking one eye, then the next, trying hard to fight the impulse to blink. "If the Angel gets you, it transports you back in time and space to somewhere, anywhere on Earth and lets you live out your life there…basically, it kills you slowly." I said softly.

"You're not going to do what I think you are, are you?" the Doctor's voice was anxious.

"I have no choice, Doctor." I replied, my voice getting stronger. "We're in a stalemate, and there's only one way I can fix it. Mum, Dad, when I shout 'now' take turns staring at the Angel until one of you needs to blink. Never ever leave it unwatched."

"What are you…"

"Stop!" I cried.

I was surprised that the Octavian didn't try to thwart me, but then again its aim was for me to suffer, and then it would kill the Doctor, so already it had part of its wish. I just hoped he could come up with something through my distraction.

"Talia, don't!" he screamed, and my resolve almost broke.

Then my eyes began to hurt.

"I love you, Mum, Dad…Doctor. Now!"

I turned and pulled the blindfolds off their faces as the Angel's cold hands touched my shoulder…

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**A/N: Where has it sent her? When has it sent her? She just said she loved the Doctor in front of her parents! Will the Doctor make it out and will he be able to see again? All these questions will be answered in Chapter 12!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hi, everyone. Now, I know I've introduced a bit more of a relationship between the Doctor and Talia so I really want your opinions on that. A couple of people said it was the Doctor being OOC and if others don't like it too much then it's not going to be too difficult to change it, because it's not mentioned too much anymore. I don't want to lose fans ^_^. The only reason I included it anyway is because I have a huge crush on David Tennant and couldn't resist, but I don't really mind making it more of a Doctor/Rose relationship where no-one really says anything obvious. Anyway, time to find out where the Weeping Angels sent Talia.**

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**Chapter 12: Sahara Syndrome**

In a second, I was in the middle of a desert. I had no idea when, or where, but all I could see were rolling yellow dunes and a few flies.

Great. I would have to be sent somewhere extreme.

But the Doctor would find me. He would have a way. If he could get out of that mess we were in, he could find me. Still, I didn't know how long that would take so I decided to pick a direction and start walking; I would need water.

I was being very rational, but then again I could also feel a hint of hysteria in the back of my mind. Panic rose, but I fought it down by picturing the Doctor and my parents, waiting for me, safe and sound.

Taking off my jumper and tying it around my waist, I started towards the nearest dune, clambouring to the top and back down again.

Thus my day continued in a similar fashion. It was midday when I'd started, and I kept going for quite a while once it grew dark and cool until I was too tired to continue. I picked a dune that didn't have any burrows or lizard holes near it and lay down on the side away from the wind.

The Doctor would find me.

I repeated that to myself over and over until I fell asleep, then started again the next morning.

By midday again, I started to get quite worried. I hadn't come across any water yet, or anything in fact but just sand and sun. The heat was starting to make me dizzy and, though I stopped every now and then, I knew I'd probably sleep earlier today than yesterday. That was bad, as I could cover more ground at night.

As I lay down, I felt hopelessness and despair begin to eat at my mind. I was in the middle of a desert, I didn't know where and I didn't know when. Millions of places and timelines…how could he ever locate me?

I didn't even realise I was crying until the tears evaporated, ironically bringing some relief to my stinging face.

As the next morning dragged on, my lips cracked and bled, my head pounded like a rock and the hallucinations began.

Most of them were the usual; oases, tents, even a dune buggy. Once or twice, though, I was convinced I saw the Doctor and the TARDIS. Each time I ran towards them, but each time, they were nothing more than figures of my dehydrated mind.

My light-headedness got worse and worse. My throat burned like fire, my limbs ached from all the walking and my skin was dry as a bone. I felt sick from a lack of food and drink and blackness licked the edges of my vision, threatening to pull me under. Still I struggled on, determined not to give up even though my body was screaming that I wouldn't last too much longer.

Then, just past midday, I heard a voice.

"Talia! Talia!"

Just another hallucination, of course, the one rational part of my mind remaining told me. Still I turned in the direction of the voice and saw, as I had before, the figure of the Doctor about a hundred metres away. He seemed to see me and began to run over. I tried as well, but my legs wouldn't obey.

Besides, what was the use. It wasn't real.

I stopped after struggling a few steps, and the world spun around me. The blue of the sky and yellow of the sand melded together until I couldn't tell which was which.

The next thing I felt was my head hitting the sand as I collapsed outright, my body finally giving up on me while my mind screamed to get up. The image of the Doctor grew closer through my glazed, half-closed eyes.

"It is you! Oh, you look terrible!" he cried.

Then he scooped me into his arms and all of a sudden, I knew he was real. Though I was seconds away from losing consciousness completely, I felt tears slide out of my eyes.

"Doc…tor." I croaked.

He held me closer, shielding me from the sun with his body. "I'm here. I'm so, so sorry."

Suddenly everything went black…

I woke blearily and a cup of water was raised to my lips.

"You have to drink, but slowly."

The Doctor's voice was muffled and distant, but I understood them enough to sip at the cup until it was empty before falling unconscious again…

The next time I had a fever and a cool, damp cloth was pressed against my forehead. My breathing was sharp and my head still hurt.

"Doctor!" I called weakly.

"It's alright." He said softly. His hand touched my arm, but I couldn't seem to unglue my eyes to look at him. "You need more rest. Not many people survive what you've just been through."

So I obeyed…

I was alone when I woke the third time. My head still hurt and I felt weak, but no longer ill or dizzy. I relaxed in the bed for a few minutes before deciding that I should get up and have a shower.

As I sat up to do so, the door opened quietly. The Doctor, clearly still thinking that I was asleep, backed in slowly with a tray in his hands. He turned around and jumped upon seeing me awake, almost dropping the tray in his shock.

On it was a perfect breakfast; two pieces of toast, a muffin, tea and a selection of jams; I noticed there was also a serve for me.

"Talia! You're awake! How are you feeling?" He asked.

I smiled up at him. "Much better now." I stared pointedly at the tray. "What's this?

He chuckled, bringing it over and placing it on my lap. "Just something I thought you deserved, after what you've been through."

"Thank you. How on earth did you get out of that? And you can see!"

He shrugged. "What you did created a distraction. The telepathic power the Octavian was using to blind me stopped and I quickly took it on a trip into the TARDIS. There's a room that no living being can get out of. I've never used it before, but I didn't want to kill it so I thought it was appropriate."

"Wow." I gasped. "And…my parents are safe?"

He nodded. "They continued staring at the Angel while I took care of the Octavian. I returned, placed the mirror back in front of it and released your parents. Then I had the rather difficult task of finding you. It was very reckless, you know, what you did."

His light tone betrayed nothing, but I could see the remembered worry and fear in his eyes. He must have thought I was lost.  
"How did you find me? All of time and Earth…" I started eating, caring less about the answer than about the fact that he _had_ found me.

"Well…you've travelled between dimensions. You're covered in Void stuff. I used the TARDIS to trace it, but as it's been a while it was very faint. How long did it take…or rather, how long were you in that desert?"

I took a deep breath, remembering. "Just over two and a half days, I think."

A frown crossed his face. "No wonder. You were half dead yesterday. I'm so sorry that it took that long."

I shook my head. "No need to apologise, Doctor." I squeezed his hand to emphasize my point. After a few minutes of silence I asked, "So…where and when was I?"

"You were in the Sahara Desert, near the middle, in the mid 1500s."

I stared. "Wow. I thought it might have been the Sahara…but I didn't think that it was that long ago."

He nodded. "This Angel must have been really powerful to send you back that far. I just can't understand how the Octavian would have captured it."

He slowly morphed into his thinking face, where his eyes grew small, his lips pouted slightly and he seemed to be staring at something far away in his Time Lord mind.

"It must have carefully planned the whole thing." I commented. "I can just picture it hunting Weeping Angels with a large mirror tucked under its wing."

"That's the thing." The Doctor said with a sigh, turning to me again. "No-one can really tell where Angels will turn up."

"He obviously could. It's maybe an Octavian skill." I suggested. "Creatures of the night? Sounds about right for locating quantum-locked statues."

He shrugged. "It rings a bell. I'll have to go and read up on Octavians again."

"But not now." I said quickly, hoping he wouldn't rush off to the library.

He smiled gently. "No, not now. Now we can just relax and do whatever you want to do."

I debated on that for a moment. "Movie?"

"Movie." He agreed.

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**A/N: Cool? Not cool? Too simple? Make sense? I welcome comments so please review. Next chapter takes place roughly a week after this one. I'm bringing into it one of my favourite aliens in Doctor Who...only because we know nothing about it, so here's my idea.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed! For now, the Talia/Doctor relationship is staying. For those who weren't such a fan; it doesn't come up too much, so please, if you like the story, bear with it. **

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**Chapter 13: Sound Familiar?**

I opened the door warily, looking out. "Where…are we?" I asked.

"The barren plains of Thom, uninhabited for thousands of years." The Doctor answered, striding out past me, his cloak billowing behind him in the brisk wind.

"Completely uninhabited?"

"As far as I'm aware." He shrugged. "I mean, you might get one or two mutant species…but what's an alien planet without some form of danger, hey?"

He grinned at me and, despite the ominous words, I couldn't help but grin back. It was just infectious. He offered me his hand and I took it as he led me towards a far off tree.

It seemed to be the only living thing. The entire landscape was completely bereft of life; brown plateaus and hills extended as far as the eye could see. The tree itself barely had any leaves, but its huge trunk was brown rather than a dead grey.

Once we reached it the Doctor began his usual monologue of the planet's history, how everything died in a huge war between two tribes that, up till then, had lived together peacefully. His voice was full of the usual regret and dislike towards warfare, and I could only imagine the images flashing behind his eyes of the war he participated in on Gallifrey.

I briefly wondered whether I should tell him what I knew.

"All it needs is a good terraform." He commented at the end.

I agreed, wandering around the tree. The ground beneath my feet felt harder than everything else. I bent down to tap at it. A hollow metallic sound echoed, making me jump. I walked back around.

"Doctor it's…" I trailed off; he was gone. "Doctor? Doctor, this isn't funny!"

A faint grating noise met my ears, sounding like it came from underneath me. Then suddenly a _piece_ of the ground shifted away beneath my feet and I fell down what seemed to be a metallic tunnel, landing in a heap when it ended.

A second later I was grabbed roughly by the arms and lifted into the air. I was more than slightly dazed from the fall and it was quite dim, so at first I couldn't see who was holding me. They attached my arms and legs to some sort of clamps, raised above the floor and leaning slightly forward. **(picture the Incredibles)**

About half a minute had passed when my eyes finally adjusted. I sucked in a breath as the figures around me took shape; they were human. Or at least, they appeared human. Five of them stood shoulder to shoulder. They were all men and, as far as I could tell, they looked identical. Pentuplets? Or something more sinister? Each one had skin that was so pale it was almost blue, and all were bald.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"You are the Girl Who Knows." They said at the exact same time in a monotone voice.

"What?"

"The Girl Who Knows can answer our question."

They continued speaking in unison and I felt chills run down my back. "Question? Listen, I…I was here with a man. I think you, or others like you, took him. Do you know where he is?"

"Do not play dumb with us." They warned. "The Doctor is also being detained. You will answer our question."

"What is your question?" I asked, looking around nervously. Surely, the Doctor could get out of anything. But then again, not always.

"How do we kill the Doctor without forcing him to regenerate?"

The chilling shivers returned.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked back, trying to wrack my brains for any other time these beings had appeared.

"Perhaps this will jog your memory." They said.

"What do you mean?"

My eyes widened; they'd spoken at the exact same time as me. As if like a movie, the scenes of Midnight flashed behind my eyes. My blood went cold with fear, the fear of the unknown. I had no clue as to what these beings were capable of.

"You're…you're…whatever that thing was on Midnight!" I gasped.

They nodded. "Correct. We are called Mimisa. The one the Doctor encountered and killed was young, not even at, to use the human term, puberty. She was young, and weak, and needed to steal a body as she was not yet able to create her own as we have. He took her life from her. That is why we want revenge."

"He didn't know that!" I shouted. "He wasn't even the one that killed her!"

"That does not matter."

"What makes you think I'd even know the answer to your question?"

"You are the Girl Who Knows, not the Girl Who Asks." They replied.

Then it hit me. Somehow they were aware of my knowledge about the Doctor. I didn't know how.

"Well then know this; I will never, ever tell you how to kill the Doctor!" I snapped, feeling slightly less vulnerable now their desires were made known.

"Then we will make you."

As one, they pressed a button on the large machine I was attached to. Instantly, from all four of my limbs that were trapped in the clamps, blasts of electricity surged around my body. I screamed, the agony obscuring my vision for several seconds.

When it stopped I hung forward, breathing heavily.

"Still not…going to tell you." I gasped.

"Then know this; every time you resist and are pumped with energy, the Doctor is also undergoing the same procedure. But the amount of energy is double for him to account for his two hearts. If you will not tell to save your own suffering, maybe you will to save his."

But they didn't understand, I thought; no matter what they did, I would rather see the Doctor hurting than dead.

I shook my head firmly, which brought on another wave of torture. They left after that, telling me they would return in a few hours to ask me again.

I just wondered how long _I _would be able to last.

The procedure occurred somewhere between five and ten times more. After the fifth I lost count. By that time my entire body ached constantly. It had been around two days. I wondered how the Doctor was faring but beyond that wasn't capable of much more coherent thought. I used all my remaining willpower to continue to thwart the desires of the Mimisa.

When they left for the whatever-it-was time, I was almost done. Everything seemed blurry and out-of-focus. I felt hopeless as I realised that my fragile human self couldn't last much longer and just hoped that with the increased power the Doctor was still hanging on.

There was a muffled crash and voices I couldn't quite identify. Then I was able to identify the voices, and for a moment I couldn't believe my ears.

"What is this place?"

"I dunno, but we saw the TARDIS outside, so we should at least look around."

Oh. My. God. It was Martha and Mickey.

I tried to call out, but my voice was hoarse from all the screaming I'd been doing. I made another attempt.

"Martha!" I managed to shout.

"What was that?"

"Was that a voice?"

"It was a girl."

"Maybe it's a new companion of his."

"This way!"

I heard them running towards me and felt like crying with relief. When they appeared and shone two torches into the room, I was finally able to relax.

"Martha, Mickey, out of all the places, you came here! I can't believe you found us!" I gasped.

They looked up at me for a few moments. "I don't mean to be rude, but how the hell do you know who we are?"

For a second I felt like lying and saying the Doctor had told me, but then I said, "Long story, but basically I know a lot of things about the Doctor and those who've travelled with him. I'm currently with him now and he's also being held captive."

As quickly as possible I explained the situation. Martha stood and listened, while Mickey worked on unlocking the clamps.

"So you've been up there for hours?" Martha gasped, her natural concern from being a doctor showing.

"I think it's been more than that. Roughly two days." I murmured.

Mickey finally cracked it and all four clamps released at once. I dropped to the ground and my legs momentarily forgot how to work, requiring Martha to come and support me.

"You're very weak." She noted. "Do you want to stay here while we get the Doctor out?"

"No." I said instantly, steadying myself. "I'll come."

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**I'm going to stop putting A/N because you know what it is XD. Anyway, what condition will Talia, Martha and Mickey find the Doctor in? Wait and see!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Ok! One rescue coming up! BTW, what do you all think about my idea of the Mimisas? Creepy, right?**

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**Chapter 14: Sudden Peril**

We slowly crept out through the interlocking tunnels. Martha and Mickey both held guns, which they didn't hesitate to use every time we came across a Mimisa.

Several times I had to lean on one of them as waves of tiredness and dizziness washed over me, but I kept going due to the one thought that was prominent in my mind; the Doctor would probably be worse than me.

When we finally found his room, I realised my premonition was right. The Doctor was completely limp, held in the same way I was. Luckily he was alone. He appeared to be unconscious, but as we approached he lifted his head slightly.

I don't think I ever remembered him looking so…battered and exhausted. His eyes were unfocussed as they ran over us. "Talia…Martha…Mickey…?" his voice was just as weak as mine, if not more so. "Another dream." He murmured, seemingly to himself, as he let his head fall forward again.

Mickey ran to the control panel and began unlocking the clamps. I approached the Doctor and reached up to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor, you're not dreaming. This is real. We're getting you out of here." I said quietly.

His tired eyes met mine and he understood. "Will my luck ever run out?" he mused, prompting me to smile.

A second later, the clamps released and Martha joined me in supporting him; it seemed he could barely stand.

He looked at me again. "You look awful." Concern was thick in his voice.

"Not as bad as you." I corrected, annoyed that, as usual, his first priority wasn't himself. "Any idea how to get back to the surface?"

"Put the sonic in my hand." He sighed, looking towards his left pocket. I reached inside – shocked at how deep it went – and my groping fingers found the familiar shape of the screwdriver. I did as he asked and he pointed it towards the roof. "Follow this tunnel for a while and take the second left. There's a hidden trapdoor. It might be guarded."

"We're ready for that." Martha assured him, showing him her gun.

He smiled slightly. "As much as I hate guns, it's actually necessary this time."

With one of the Doctor's arms around Martha's and my neck , Mickey led the way towards the exit. Any Mimisas we came across were taken care of, including those guarding the doorway. Once on the surface, I looked around for the TARDIS.

It was a couple hundred metres away; a distance that seemed all the greater for my aching legs, and I was glad the Doctor didn't have to do it alone. We began the trek over. fifty metres from the blue door, I heard the sounds of pursuit.

Two Mimisas were chasing us, electric whips in their hands that looked identical to the ones the Sycorax had used.

"Reclaim the Doctor!" They shouted in unison. "Reclaim the Girl Who Knows!"

"We have to run." Martha said, as the Mimisas were currently gaining rapidly.

I looked at the Doctor. "Sorry."

He took a deep breath. "Allons-y."

We ran. My legs protested with each step and the weight of the Doctor didn't help, but I pressed on. Mickey took my place as we reached the door and I quickly pulled out my key and opened it.

As I stood back for the others to enter, the Mimisas reached striking distance.

In unison, they fired their whips. One wrapped around my neck, while the other wrapped around the Doctor's, pulling him from Mickey and Martha and dragging him backwards. I managed to stay on my feet, but their strength was pulling me back as well.

The whip was incredibly tight and I could feel the pain begin to grow as it burned the skin. Then it slackened as Mickey shot the Mimisa. I dropped to my knees, gasping and choking, holding my hands to my neck. There was the sound of another shot, and two pairs of feet ran past me to the Doctor.

I felt them drag him past me and into the TARDIS, before Martha grabbed my hand.

"Come on, Talia, we've got to get out of here! More are coming!" she cried, pulling my arm around her neck and helping me inside. She then shut the door behind us. I staggered over to the console and, remembering the few lessons the Doctor had given me, set a course for home while Martha tended to the Time Lord himself. (these lessons have happened in-between chapters)

I looked over at him, before going to kneel next to him. My head was swimming from exhaustion and pain, but I didn't care. He was unconscious now, yet his face still twisted with the pain he must have been feeling. His neck was a mass of red and black burned flesh, making my stomach twist. What must my own look like? His skin was very pale as well.

I pulled out my phone, my fingers shaking as they typed the number.

"Mum?"

"Hello, Talia. You sound…"

"Don't worry for a moment. Get a bed ready. The Doctor's been injured. We're on our way back. Martha and Mickey are with us." I said quickly.

She was silent for a moment. "…Ok. Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'll explain when we arrive. Yeah, I'm…" I was going to tell her I was fine, before remembering she'd see me when we landed. "I'm not that great either. It's been a rough day."

"I'll have everything ready. Make sure you get here."

"I will."

I hung up. Then suddenly, I began shaking uncontrollably and tears built up. Martha came and wrapped an arm around me.

"Hey, it's alright. It's going to be okay." She murmured.

"What's wrong?" Mickey asked.

"She's in shock." Martha answered, rubbing my back gently. "I promise. Both you and the Doctor will be fine."

I took several deep breaths to calm down as the TARDIS landed with its usual kerfuffle. Martha stood and opened the doors before she and Mickey carried the Doctor inside. I managed to get to my feet and started heading towards the front door.

Mum and Dad came out to help me, seeing I could barely make it myself.

They asked me what they could do, what happened, and every other question under the sun. "Martha will explain." I sighed. I spotted her in the spare room and called out as loudly as I could. "Martha, just tell me, will he be alright?"

She looked around and took in my appearance. "Yes."

"That's all I need to know." I muttered.

Then I collapsed onto the couch and promptly passed out.

Waking many hours later, I realised I was in my room. Automatically, I raised a hand to my neck and discovered that the burns and scars had healed significantly; probably some special medicine of Martha's.

I got out of bed slowly, correctly anticipating the dizzy waves that assaulted me from the days without food. Taking a few deep breaths, I stood and slowly walked out to the lounge room, where Mum sat on the sofa.

"Morning." I murmured quietly.

Two seconds later I was being warmly and comfortingly embraced, her arms curved around me in a protective manner. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

I returned her hug as we went to sit back on the sofa. "A bit weak and hungry, but very much alright. I presume that's thanks to Martha."

She nodded. "Poor girl, she's been non-stop for the last twelve hours, taking care of you and the Doctor."

"How is he?" I asked.

She bit her lip. "Not good. She said they got him worse than they got you. He's only got one heart going, he's very weak and he's got a fever." She murmured. "Martha's been administering all sorts of medicines and giving him water, as that's all he stays conscious long enough to drink."

"He's been awake?"

"Yeah, but literally for a few seconds at a time, and that hasn't happened for hours. He opens his eyes slightly, takes a few sips of water and passes out again." She sighed. "I don't remember ever seeing him this bad except for just after his regeneration."

I nodded. "Same. What Martha said was an understatement. Every time the Mimisas fired electricity through me, they fired double the amount through him. Trust me; it was painful for me, so I can't even bear to imagine what he felt. Plus the whip was around his neck more than mine, and I have no idea what else they did to him." I closed my eyes, leaning back, feeling worried on top of the exhaustion that still made my muscles ache. "Does she think he'll recover?"

"She hasn't said, but I should think so." Mum told me, trying to be positive. Then she chuckled. "The TARDIS has been throwing a fit. Mickey and I went to go and get something from the med bay for Martha earlier and she was being all noisy and flashy and kept confusing us until we told her we needed the equipment for the Doctor. It's like she knew, because instantly the med bay door was right in front of us."

"Yeah." I smiled. "She's helped me save him before. Where are Mickey, and Dad?"

"Both outside. Your Dad's showing him around to get him out of the house. I think it was getting a bit too much for him."

I nodded. "I'm so tired, but I want to eat first."

She stood and went to the kitchen immediately, returning with a bowl of soup. "Here, I've had this constantly heating in case you woke."

In minutes the bowl was empty, and I could feel my eyes slipping shut. As much as I wanted to stay awake in case I could help Martha, I knew I would be useless in the state I was in. So I stretched out on the sofa and Mum pulled a blanket over me…

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**Just in case anyone was in doubt; the Doctor's health is pretty low at the moment. The next chapter will be quite short, sorry, but it'll be followed by a good (and hopefully interesting) one. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Still continuing on from the last story. Please let me know if this idea is too far-fetched, or if you like it ^_^**

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**Chapter 15: A Miracle**

"Mickey, get the defibrillator!"

Martha's anxious scream made me sit up sharply, in time to see Mickey run past me out the doors towards the TARDIS. I turned towards the spare room. The door was wide open, revealing the Doctor lying on a bed, Martha peering in the direction Mickey had gone and Mum and Dad standing out of the way looking very concerned.

"What, what's going on?" I asked, standing and walking over.

"Both hearts have stopped!" Martha cried, reaching for the defibrillator from Mickey. "Clear!" she shouted as the pulse was sent through the Doctor's chest.

Nothing.

She repeated the process and this time, the heart monitors that he was hooked up to showed a faint beat from each heart. Martha then performed CPR, as his breathing hadn't returned with his hearts. Once he was taking in shallow but consistent breaths, she sat back on her heels and took a few deep ones herself.

My eyes prickled with unshed tears as I took in the scene. The frail, sunken, weak figure of the Doctor, barely hanging on. Mum and Dad looking from him to me, worried and clearly wishing there was something they could do. Mickey, frustration reaching a peak as he stormed back outside. And Martha, gazing at the Doctor with a hopeless look on her face.

I walked over and placed my hand on his cheek, kneeling down. "Come on, Doctor, come back to us." I whispered. Martha turned to me.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, sounding close to tears herself. "There's little else I can do. If he survives, he survives. If he doesn't…"

"He'll regenerate." I said, the words coming out harsher than I'd intended. "That's better than him dying."

Martha nodded. "Yeah."

Another day passed. There were no more emergencies, but no improvement either. I started feeling better and better and wondered if somehow I was sucking the life out of him. Then I realised how stupid that was.

Martha set up a drip in order to try and give him some strength. Enough to fight off the fever. Enough to recover.

I found myself, like Martha, sleeping in that room as the days ticked by. Mum and Dad didn't complain.

On the fourth morning, I couldn't take it anymore. I stalked out of the house, avoiding the TARDIS who I knew couldn't do anything, and wandered down towards the dam. As I stared out over the dam, sitting on the ground and the wind blowing strands of hair across my eyes, I could only hear the Doctor's voice in my head over and over, see his face, and know that he never knew how much I loved him.

I stood and walked to the edge, letting the wind take my thoughts.

After some time had passed, perhaps an hour, I began heading back. Halfway up the backyard, I heard the back door open and looked up.

"Talia, you've got to come!"

It was Martha. Her face was pale and full of anguish. I ran.

"What is it?"

"He's…starting to regenerate. He's woken…and asking for you." She sounded like she was trying not to cry.

My legs moved faster than my mind, carrying me to the room. Sure enough, the Doctor's eyes were open and a faint golden shimmer was coming from his face and hands. His eyes brightened slightly when I entered, kneeling next to the bed.

"Talia." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"No." I murmured. A lump grew in my throat. "This isn't supposed to happen."

"Your series got it wrong. I can't stop it." He said, giving me a tiny smile.

I shook my head, gripping his arm. "But, last time you channelled the energy into your hand. Couldn't you channel it into something this time?"

He frowned. "It would have to be something living, and humans can't handle Time Lord energy."

"You don't know that. Has it ever been done?" I asked.

"No. But it's just logical. I wouldn't risk any of you, just to keep this face."

The golden light grew more prominent. He smiled at me again.

I shook my head, determined. "If it's never been tried, now's the best time. Use me. I'm putting myself on the line."

"Don't be silly." Martha snapped. "Let Mickey or I do it."

Mum and Dad were in town, but I was sure if they were there they would have offered as well.

"No. If you will, Doctor, let it be me."

He only had seconds to make up his mind, which I knew would work in my favour. I stared at him, waiting as each second ticked by like an age.

I stood, and as I got to my feet, it happened. He reached up and grabbed my hand, forming the connection.

The energy that enveloped him hit me like a bus. I staggered backwards, dropping his hand. The others moved out of the way, while the force of it drove me to my knees and then to all fours. Finally, it was too much for even that, so I curled into a ball on the ground as the energy continued to stream into me. My vision was overtaken by a wash of golden light, and all I could hear was its rushing, even when eventually it stopped. I was left shaking as it coursed through my veins.

After about twenty seconds, the light faded and I was able to hear again, although I could still feel it in every cell of my body. A hand gripped mine and pulled me to my feet, and suddenly I was staring into the eyes of the Doctor.

"She's glowing!" I heard Martha gasp.

"And look at her eyes!" Mickey also cried.

The Doctor's face was full of concern. My mind was floating in the exhilaration the energy was bringing. I realised that every time I breathed out through my mouth, a small puff of the energy floated out. I wanted to hug him, to speak, but I couldn't. My mind didn't seem to want to send the correct commands to my arms of voice box.

"Take deep breaths." He told me and I did so, feeling weaker and weaker with each breath as the energy flowed out of me in gusts.

I swallowed. "Doctor."

He smiled. "You…alright now?"

"Yeah." I murmured, suddenly feeling very drowsy. My eyelids demanded to close, but I forced them to remain open. The Doctor gently sat me down on the bed. "You?"

"Fine. You know how it works. My concern is you. That was Time Lord energy; not really the sort of thing for a human to absorb. I don't know why you made me do it." His tone was that of annoyance.

"I'm alright, I promise. Just really tired."

"No kidding." He said quietly, and I dimly realised that Martha and Mickey had left the room.

Almost unconsciously I felt myself relax and lean sideways, only realising so when I came into contact with his shoulder. I jumped, "Sorry!"

He chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Don't be. Come on!" He leapt up and pulled me to my feet before gently putting an arm around me and leading me towards my room. "If you don't rest now, the energy will come back to haunt you. It's not completely gone, it's only reduced to a level that a human could handle."

I was so exhausted that I didn't even register getting into bed. The next second I was lying down, and the Doctor squeezed my shoulder affectionately before leaving. A faint smile crossed my lips as I mingled into unconsciousness.

When I woke, what seemed like hours later, it was to the sound of voices in the next room.

"So, how did you end up on Thom?" The Doctor was asking. I presumed he was asking Mickey and Martha, because I had wondered that myself.

"Jack." Mickey answered.

"He gave us his Vortex Manipulator a few months back." Martha explained. "He said that we wouldn't get in trouble with you if we were using it, but that he would."

"He programmed it so it locked on to the TARDIS." Mickey continued. "We couldn't believe it when we found you and Talia in the state you were in."

I could picture the Doctor grinning as he said, "Well, I have you and Jack to thank, then, for that amazing rescue. And Talia, of course. I know you're listening by the way!"

How did he do that? Ears like a hawk. The Doctor must have heard the difference in my breathing. I smiled, getting up and going into the next room. "No, you lot woke me up."

The Doctor approached and gave me a quick hug, which I returned. "You alright then, now?"

"Fine." I said. "No trace of the energy left inside me. None that I can feel, anyway."

"We can't jump to conclusions." The Doctor warned. "This may come back to haunt us later, in a good way or a bad way."

I shrugged; he was always a worrier. "I'm sure we'll work it out if anything happens in the future."

He looked as though he didn't share my optimism.

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**Next chapter follows on from this one, but takes place a few weeks afterwards. It's one single chapter that I couldn't really add anything else on to, but afterwards some cool stuff happens!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Ok, time for some really cool stuff! Talia gets the Donna treatment ^_^. Again, this chapter takes place about two weeks after the last one.**

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**Chapter 16: The DoctorTalia**

"Are you coming or not?" I hissed back into the open door of the TARDIS, having already stepped out and begun looking around to make sure the coast was clear.

We were in the middle of some sort of savannah. Not Earth, of course. I couldn't remember the name of the planet. Tadistar, or something like that. The Doctor had gotten a message on the psychic paper demanding he come here at once. So we did, as always, though he knew very little about the planet and its occupants.

"Of course I'm coming, I'm just making sure she's not going to abandon us like she did last time." He replied, stepping out and, extremely gently, shutting the TARDIS door.

I chuckled, remembering the TARDIS groaning angrily at us because, according to the Doctor, she was to blame why we just could _not_ get to 1522 to watch the premiere of Romeo and Juliet. After we finally did make it and watched the play…we came out to find her gone. A wild goose chase across London later, she turned up in the exact same position we'd left her in and _still_ wouldn't open the door until the Doctor swore not to use the hammer ever again.

"Finally, took you long enough!" a rough voice called. I turned, trying to spot its source.

To my surprise, a lone Sontaran, armed, was walking towards us.

"Who are you?" the Doctor demanded, coming to stand in front of me in an almost protective manner. "And how do you have the mind enough to reach my psychic paper?"

"Do you not remember me, Doctor?" the Sontaran asked bitterly. "General Stahl of the fourth Sontaran Battle Fleet."

Of course! But…

"How did you survive?" the Doctor asked my mental question.

"Emergency teleport given only to the highest of commanders." He replied.

"What do you want?"

"Revenge."

He raised his gun, but the Doctor was quicker, pulling out the screwdriver and disabling the weapon.

However, quick as a flash Stahl pulled out a smaller gun from his belt and fired.

"No!" I screamed, pushing the Doctor out of the way.

The laser blast's force made me fly backwards several metres when it hit, and the pain was like a thousand spikes hitting me at once. The pain was internal, and a horrifying warmth was spreading throughout my chest; internal bleeding. I groaned, my vision growing dark and foggy.

The Doctor disabled the handgun as well before using his extra height to get around Stahl and jam the back of his neck with the screwdriver. Tossing the Sontaran aside, he then ran over to me.

He didn't speak, but I could see such terror in his eyes and stiff movements.

"Doc…" I tried to say, but a blast of agony stopped that, and I couldn't control the way my back arched and a gasp ripped its way up my throat.

"Shh." He whispered; even his voice was stiff with barely controlled emotion.

Carefully, tenderly, he picked me up and carried me swiftly back to the TARDIS. During that period I fell unconscious, waking again when he was placing me onto a bed in the med bay. Blurredly, I saw him rush about setting up drips and heart monitors and x-rays. But I could feel it; the damage was too much. He knew it too, but I knew he wouldn't give up until way after I took my last breath. I wanted to spare him the prolonged hurt, but my tongue and brain didn't want to cooperate.

Then I felt it. A golden shimmer coated everything in my sight, clearing it. I looked down at my body and saw my hands beginning to emit the same topaz glow. Of course. Time Lord energy. He had said it wasn't all gone from that time after the Mimisas. I really was part Time Lord, part human. Like the DoctorDonna.

Oh and it was marvellous! The warmth of the energy spread throughout me, removing all pain. I was no longer aware of my surroundings; all I knew was gold and heat. The sensation grew stronger and stronger until it permeated every cell in my body. There was no explosion or vast beam of light. It was gentle, and subtle.

Then, as though under the power of a wind, the glow was swept away, leaving only a blanket of darkness in its place…

Eventually, after an untold period of time, a white light appeared. It grew brighter, and larger, slowly, bit by bit. Until it filled everything. The next thing I knew, I could open my eyes.

I did, but had to wait a few moments for them to adjust. My head felt like a water-filled sponge, and my limbs like lead. I turned my head to the side and realised with a slight shock that I was in my room on the TARDIS, on my bed. A heart monitor was set up next to me along with a drip.

Sitting up slowly, I pulled out the various tubed attached to my arms. Surely this was strange! The process had only just finished.

Then panic set in; what if I looked different? What had changed? I stood, groggy and unsteady, my head still heavy and slightly dizzy, and stumbled towards the bathroom.

I flicked the light on and, taking a deep breath, looked in the mirror. The same. Completely the same. No different face, I wasn't older, even my hair colour was the same. I breathed a sigh of relief.

There was no way I was going back to bed, so I decided to have a shower. As I got out, dried myself and dressed, I heard the bedroom door creak open. There was a gasp, and then the Doctor called my name, sounding very flustered.

I opened the bathroom door to find him halfway out. He turned.

His reaction upon seeing me was more extreme than I had expected. He instantly was at my side, enveloping me in the tightest of hugs. I felt wetness on my shoulder and realised he was crying.

"Doctor? It's alright, it's still me." I said, squeezing him myself.

He shook his head, holding me at arms length. "No, no you don't know." He said thickly, wiping his eyes. He was smiling, but there was a remembered pain in his eyes. I frowned.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

He closed his eyes and looked down. "You have changed." He murmured. "Your hair is about a centimetre longer. Your nails have grown. You're even a millimetre taller."

"Ok, so? It was like a half regeneration, yeah?"

He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "Talia…you've been in a coma for three weeks…"

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at this news. No wonder he had looked so worried. "A coma? What…?"

"After the energy left your body, your heart stopped completely." He explained, gesturing to sit on the bed. "The rush of energy was too much for your human cardio system and it gave out. As your chest injuries had been healed, I set to work getting your heart back up and running. Once I did, however, it remained slow and faint. Your mind practically blanked out and I realised that you'd slipped into a coma." He sighed, wiping his hand over his face. "I stayed with you every day for the first week, but then your mother called and I had to return to your property. Your parents haven't let me leave since then, although they agreed that you would be better to remain in the TARDIS with all the necessary medical supplies."

"No wonder you were so relieved to see me up." I said, reaching out for his hand. "For me, it seemed like mere seconds."

He chuckled softly. "That's Time Lord energy for you; distorts all perception of time."

"Yeah." I muttered. "You're telling me."

He fell silent and I suddenly remembered something I'd thought of while listening to the Doctor describe Thom's bloodstained history; what I hadn't told him.

"Doctor…you're aware of how much I know about you, right…?"

He nodded, absently biting into his own muffin. "Of course."

"Well…" I looked down. "There is something I know that I haven't quite told you. When I said I know everything…I mean everything."

His curious expression turned into a frown at my tone. "What exactly are you talking about?"

I swallowed, wondering how best to start. "I've hinted that I know a lot about your next regeneration and bits and pieces from your past. That was partly true. I know everything from your next regeneration, everything about your most recent and…well…everything about…"

I was robbed of the chance to finish as the TARDIS suddenly decided to crash into something, knocking both of us from the bed as well as the remains of breakfast.

Jumping to his feet in a second, the Doctor yelled over the beeping that had begun, "Tell me later!" before running out the door to the console room.

I didn't know what we hit but whatever it was, the old girl wasn't happy. She rocked back and forth as I followed him, making it difficult to stay on two feet. He was running around the console, manipulating several buttons and devices to no avail.

"What did we hit?" I asked loudly.

"Nothing!" he shouted back. "Absolutely nothing! We're still in the vortex! Unless it was some sort of…I don't know…energy spike…"

I watched his continuous pointless efforts to stabilise the TARDIS, which had seemingly gone berserk. I inched closer, keeping a hand on one of the columns to steady myself. A section right next to me exploded, making me jump.

Then something very strange happened.

A sort of hatch on the console opened, emitting a pale blue beam of energy which fixed on me. When it hit it gave me no pain, as I expected, but coated me in the energy. The Doctor stopped, staring at me in confusion, breathing heavily. I looked down and saw in shock that I was beginning to flicker.

Oh no!

I somehow sensed what was going to happen. The scene in front of me flickered in and out of existence. I reached out towards him and he copied.

"No! Doctor! Doctor!" I screamed before everything disappeared as the teleport, or whatever it was, took me.

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**OMG! I bet you all want to kill me...Where's she gone? What do you all think? Let me know in reviews.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, after surviving the numerous death threats I have received, here I am to update again! In this chapter we find out where she is, what is going on (partially) and a few other things. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 17: Old Friends Who Need Help**

The next thing I knew, I was standing in a street. Well, stumbling actually. The teleport or whatever it was had left me dizzy. Definitely Earth, was my first thought. I looked around. The sky was cloudy and dark, the street around me was dull…but I recognised it. This was Armidale. I felt a stab of fear fill me; what had happened? Why was I here? Did the TARDIS do this?

A rustle caught my ears and I turned to see a newspaper floating in the breeze along the ground. The breeze was slight, but chilling to the bone. Something evil, something wrong was going on. I walked over and picked up the paper.

The headline was huge: NEW RESTRICTIONS TO BE IMPOSED UPON PUBLIC. I started reading after a brief glance at the date; exactly a year after the Doctor and I had last stopped in on Earth.

_Over a month after the public execution of the infamous traitor to the Rulers, the Doctor,…_

The first line made me gasp in shock and I almost dropped the paper. The public _execution_? The Doctor…was dead…? I started to get a suspicion that the TARDIS had somehow sent me to this other world…dimension…universe…something…but I couldn't fathom why?

"Psst!"

I turned, the paper still in my hand. A metal lid had lifted from the ground about ten metres away and a smooth brown hand reached out and beckoned.

"Who are you?" I asked, whispering for some unknown reason. Another rustle sounded behind me, as well as a rasping, wheezing breath. I gasped.

"Just come on!"

My eyes widened; it was Martha.

"Wh…?"

"Don't ask questions! What's happened to you? Get in here!" she snapped, slightly louder.

Considering the dreadful sound from behind me was getting closer, I figured I'd better go with her. I ran over, dropping the newspaper and quickly climbed down into the hole. She replaced the lid above us.

The next thing I knew I was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my God! We thought you were dead! What were you doing out there? Did you have a death wish?" she gushed.

I hugged her back but then gently pushed her away. "What are you talking about? What was that thing?" It was the first chance I got to study her. She seemed worn, tired and less strong-spirited than the Martha I knew. She must have been through much.

She looked at me strangely. "What d'you mean? This isn't the time for a joke, Talia."

Ok. So there was obviously a version of me in this universe…but how was I going to tell her that I wasn't her?

As I contemplated that, several other people walked out of the dark tunnels behind Martha. I gasped upon recognising all of them, and noticing several missing persons. They also reacted, each running over to hug me just as hard as Martha had. I did the same, though now even more confused.

"So you managed to get her inside then. Is she alright?" One asked.

"I think so…but she's acting like she doesn't remember much." Martha responded.

"Amnesia?" another wondered.

"No…I reckon if anything, she would have lost her mind a bit. She was there, during the execution. She saw it. That's why you ran away, isn't it, Talia?" the first asked me.

I frowned at her. "Listen, I don't know what you're talking about. I just arrived here, out of nowhere, and the paper was next to me. I read it. Is the Doctor really dead?"

They all nodded. The one who had been doing the talking approached and looked me square in the eye. "Talia, do you know who we are?"

"Of course." I nodded. "Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Mickey Smith, Sarah-Jane Smith and River Song…but…where's Donna, and Jack, and…your Doctor, Rose…or doesn't he…" I was going to say _exist_ but that would sound strange.

"She really has forgotten. Oh man! Maybe they did something to her!" Mickey exclaimed.

I figured the truth was better than trying to act as though I had amnesia.

"Look, I'm really sorry to tell you this…but I'm not your Talia."

Gasps all around met my words.

"What do you mean, not our Talia?" Sarah-Jane asked.

"I mean I'm from a different universe, or dimension, or whatever." I said calmly.

"Then is your Doctor here?" Rose questioned, accepting my words quicker than the others.

"No. Let me explain." I added to combat the sighs of annoyance. "My Doctor and I were in our TARDIS in our world when she went nuts. She started flailing around so we went to the console room. A hatch on the console released some sort of energy at me, which, as near as I can tell, teleported me here. I guess the TARDIS wants me to help, though how she knew about you is beyond me, though, of course, if she had sent the Doctor he would have been captured."

River was the one to approach me, this time. She placed a hand on my cheek. "You're so much like her. I think our worlds must be very similar."

I smiled at her. "Looks like it. So, as I said, I think I'm here to help you…but I don't know how. Why don't you start by telling me everything that's happened. What was that thing outside?"

"Come this way." Martha said, beckoning and walking back the way the others had come. "We'll talk easier in the lounge."

They made me go first, with Rose next, then River, and the others trailing. It was a good thing I wasn't claustrophobic.

"Have you got tunnels like this under the whole of Armidale?" I asked.

"Yeah, took us a while but far quicker than normal, back when we had the Doctor helping." Mickey answered.

It was still strange to think of a world without the Doctor.

I had to admit; they had done well considering their limited supplies. Their 'base' was entirely sealed in metal. It could have been the inside of a spaceship, if I hadn't been pulled underground.

Martha indicated one of the chairs, which I took. Rose went off to make tea and the others gathered around, ready to explain.

"Alright, we'll start from the beginning, yeah?"

I nodded.

"12 months ago, the Xenomorphs invaded. That's what nearly got you on the surface."

"Xenomorphs?" I asked, astounded. "Like the ones from the Alien movies?"

"Exactly." River answered. "They didn't just make those up, you know. Only these are slightly more advanced; they can speak English, even without the TARDIS translator, and they've got incredible technology."

"There were so many of them that the Doctor could do nothing more than get most of us out, to begin with." Martha continued, her voice going quieter.

I sensed what she wasn't saying. "What happened to the others? What about my parents, yours, Rose's?"

Martha frowned, looking down, as though she didn't want to tell me. River again obliged. "Donna…was killed during the first raids. She's part Time Lord, which is why she was targeted and why you, me, Rose and the Doctors had to be kept safe. Jack's immortality was quickly discovered, he's in prison. Martha's parents were taken captive, but her brother and sister changed names and live their lives. Jackie…well, we don't really know. Pete's dead…"

"And my Mum and Dad?" I pressed.

River moved closer, looking me directly in the eye. "The Doctor tried to get you all out. You were with him, when the Xenomorphs arrived. He went straight to your house, but by the time he arrived they had already put up anti-TARDIS defences all around the property. I'm afraid your parents were killed due to their connection with you."

I gasped, clapping my hands to my mouth. Tears filled my eyes and overflowed.

"No…" I whispered, despite the fact that they weren't actually my parents.

"Remember that this is an alternate universe to yours." Rose said gently, walking in with two cups of tea.

I nodded, wiping my eyes. "Yeah…continue."

As Rose went back to get the other cups, Martha resumed the story. "We established ourselves underground as the Xenomorphs begun killing. Just like in the movie…they need hosts to breed in. They killed millions of humans in doing so, until finally an accord was set that the remaining humans would keep their lives in servitude while all animals were used and bred as hosts."

"It became the punishment for those who obeyed." Mickey added grimly. "To bear a Xenomorph offspring."

"Both Doctors worked for months and months to try and figure out their weakness. The Doctor had almost worked it out when he was captured. They destroyed his work. That's when Rose's Doctor and you disappeared. Both of you were out on separate missions and never returned. We've been hiding ever since, only ever going to the surface to get newspapers and such; anything for wind of you or the Doctor." Martha finished sadly.

"Where's the TARDIS?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

"With the Xenomorphs. They've turned the university into a base. It's there, we saw them take it." Sarah-Jane answered.

I looked down. "Did…were…did you watch? When it happened?"

I didn't even want to ask, didn't want to know. But, then again, maybe I did.

"Didn't have a choice." Rose sighed. "They psychically beamed the whole thing into every single human's mind. We all watched it." She paused, and her next words were quiet and thick. "It was terrible. I practically fainted."

"We all try not to think about it." Martha agreed.

"But the problem is, it's replayed every week on the same day at the same time, so no-one can ever forget it." River said bitterly. "And you've arrived at just the wrong time. They beam it into our minds in about five minutes."

I frowned, looking around at the faces which had suddenly turned grim. "What? No, no that's not fair! I don't want to see that!"

"I'm afraid you've got no choice. Even I can't help it." River came over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Brace yourself."

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**WARNING! This will not be pretty. If any of you have seen Alien, you'll know what I'm talking about. WARNING! If you are a David Tennant/Tenth Doctor lover, shock, horror and tears may ensue. lol. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Ok. Bring on the death threats again. For hard core David Tennant/Tenth Doctor fans out there, I know, I hated writing this, but I wanted it to really stand out. For the rest of you...well...sorry anyway. It does get better! ^_^ *dodges various items being thrown at me from readers***

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**Chapter 18: Horrors and Ideas**

I tried to, fearing how bad it was. My heart started pounding as the minutes ticked past. Then suddenly, an image filled my mind.

_A podium stood erected in the middle of Central Park in Armidale. The Doctor, chained and wearing ripped clothes, was being held by two creatures that should only exist in nightmares: Xenomorphs. He looked to be in great discomfort, which, as I watched, escalated into pain. My heart already ached._

_A third Xenomorph stood a few metres in front. "At long last the Doctor is ours!" It screamed in a horrible, screeching voice. "For 24 hours he has been in our custody. Now it is time for him to meet his end by finally becoming useful to us!"_

_I had a suspicion. I didn't want to think it was true. _

_The two holding the Doctor thrust him forward harshly into the wooden ground. He had started groaning and shifting about, eyes tight shut. "Why couldn't you have just given me a good old-fashioned beheading?" he gasped through clenched teeth._

_ "__Our greatest enemy deserves to be of benefit at his death. And to all those out there who still support the Doctor, know that he will not be able to regenerate from this." The lead Xenomorph hissed._

_Suddenly the Doctor screamed and a cracking noise filled the air. It was then that I knew my suspicion was true._

"No, no, stop!" I shouted, not wanting to see it, but I had no choice.

_His face was contorted in pain as another crack echoed, followed by a second scream. His shirt tore in two as the creature burst its way through his chest._

"NO!"

_He screamed louder, and it ended in a horrific gurgling sound as the blood filled his throat. My eyes were glued to his face, blank and stained red…Above it all high, cold laughter filled the skies…_

The terrible picture faded. Backing away slowly, breathing so heavily that I was starting to hyperventilate, I stared into space, my mind's eye reliving the Doctor's death over and over again.

I didn't even realise I was sobbing until my back hit a wall. I slid down it, letting the tears fall.

"Talia?"

I couldn't recognise the voice; I was too much in shock. (Even if you were his best friend you'd react this way…that was pretty bad). My hand flew to my mouth. I felt slightly ill from the gore of the scene. "No, no, no, no, no, no…Doctor…no…" I kept whispering. Then I murmured, over and over, "Not _my_ Doctor, not _my_ Doctor."

"Your Doctor is still alive. We haven't got that consolation."

That was Martha, her voice gentle, yet troubled over what she, too, had again seen. She came and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You need to calm down. I know it was one heck of a shock."

I took a deep breath and nodded, squeezing my eyes shut one last time. Martha pulled me to my feet and led me to the bathroom, where I was given a towel and told to have a shower. I was impressed that they had gotten plumbing down here, but couldn't really be bothered to ask how just then. After the shower, I walked back to the main room, feeling utterly exhausted.

"It's late. I think we should all get some sleep. Now Talia's back, we might actually have something to do tomorrow." Sarah-Jane's voice cut through the tired haze my mind had slipped into.

"I can't sleep." I said truthfully. Although I felt as though the second I put my head down I would be unconscious, I was scared to sleep after what I'd seen.

"Here." Martha was holding a pill.

"What's that?"

"Sleeping pill. Guaranteed to knock you out for six hours, works fast and has no side effects." She rattled off.

"Thanks."

Everyone said goodnight and headed in different directions, except Martha and Mickey. I was led to my room by Rose, before taking the pill. She was right, despite my horror, I was unconscious in under thirty seconds…

When I woke I had no idea of telling whether or not it was morning except for the clock next to the bed. Right time, then, six in the morning. It felt very odd to not be waking up in the TARDIS.

It seemed that my subconscious had locked away yesterday's experience, something I found helped me to get up, get dressed and get on with the day. I headed back out to the main room and found a breakfast there waiting that was as normal as any: toast and tea. I ate, though without too much enthusiasm.

"Right, well today we should…um…Talia, you're flickering?" Rose began to explain before frowning at me.

I groaned in frustration upon glancing down and finding out that it looked as though I was being teleported again. I looked back up at her, trying to convey my apologies.

"I think the TARDIS is taking me back. I'm sorry!" was all I could get out before she and the room disappeared.

I arrived in the TARDIS with a thud, stumbling again until the console room righted itself.

"Talia!"

I turned. Words could not describe the joy I felt upon seeing him, my Doctor, alive and well. We were together in a second, each of us gripping the other in the tightest of hugs.

"Oh, Doctor, my Doctor, you're alive!" I cried, squeezing him tight and burying my head in his chest.

"Of course I'm alive!" he snapped, pushing me away to arms' length and giving me a thorough look-over. "What about you? Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened? Where were you?"

His eyes were wild, his voice husky. There were black shadows around his eyes as well. I had a funny feeling that he hadn't left the console room since I'd been gone.

"I'm fine." I said: with the Doctor, that was the first thing to establish. "Completely fine. As to where I've been…well…how about we go to the lounge and I'll explain there."

He nodded before pulling me into another hug and kissing me gently on the forehead.

As we sat down on the comfortable couch (he still wouldn't remove his arms from around me), I explained all about the other world and their problems.

"So you see, she couldn't send you, because you would be killed on sight. I don't know how she found out about them, but they really do need help." I finished after over an hour of speaking.

By this time he was sitting a few inches away and, upon that last comment he pulled both his hands over his face. "Well…for some reason she's got you linked to her mainframe. You've got 12 hours with me before she sends you back, and there's nothing I can do to stop that, I'm afraid. I've tried everything, but she's being so stubborn. I suppose you'll just have to stay underground for as long as it takes me to work out a way to fix this."

"Weren't you listening?" I asked, grabbing his chin so he had to face me. "Doctor, I want to, no, I need to help them! Come on, it's Rose and Martha! They need my help! I can't just go there and do nothing."

He put his head back on the sofa, his eyes tight shut and his mouth set in the expression that told me he was very much not happy.

"Oh, and by the way…" I continued. "You weren't _too_ nasty to the TARDIS, were you?"

He looked at me then, his eyes now dark. "Didn't you see when you came back? Half the console's ripped to pieces."

I frowned. "Oh, Doctor, you shouldn't have done that. She did something good by sending me there. Surely…"

He interrupted me, his patience suddenly at an end. "Talia, please understand! You disappeared right in front of my eyes! I had no idea where you were, or if you were hurt or if you would ever come back! I thought, for 12 hours, that I had lost you forever! Of course I was going to rip the TARDIS apart to try and get you back! Heck, when I lost Rose I ripped up a star! I wasn't going to let another person I loved vanish never to be seen again!"

I had flinched away from his anger. He frowned at me, trying to get me to understand. I did, and I embraced him again. But I also wanted him to understand.

"Doctor, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, but I've got to go back and I've got to do my best to help them otherwise they will die. I promise you I will do my best to keep myself safe, but that might not always be possible. I would rather die doing something good for my friends rather than hide in a tunnel until the TARDIS gets tired and brings me back for good while they suffer and die."

I spoke slowly. I knew he couldn't argue; he was exactly the same. He knew that I knew that. I could tell that he was conflicted between anger and admiration.

"Fine." He said the word bitterly, turning away from me. I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor, if we've only got 12 hours, let's not spend it with you upset, please?"

Again, he couldn't disagree. Sighing, he turned back and asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I think you can actually help the situation." I told him. "You've got the biggest library in the universe, I need to find out how to rid the Earth of the Xenomorphs; let's get researching!"

That got him excited. Xenomorphs obviously existed in this universe as well, although the Doctor hardly knew anything about them. So, we started looking through the library's vast catalogue and devouring book after book, searching for a weakness.

Hours passed, but it was lovely! We were like two nerds studying for an exam.

"A-ha!" he yelled suddenly, running over. "I've got it! They've only got one weakness, and I don't know how it will work, but…"

"Tell me." I said.

"Xenomorphs only have one predator in the entire universe: Daleks." His voice was low, his eyes darting over the page at the same speed his mind must have been going at. "If they hear a Dalek, they will run immediately, leaving the entire planet."

"Excellent!" I exclaimed, grinning. I was met with confusion.

"How is that excellent? What're you going to do, lure Daleks to Earth? You'll end up in a worse situation." He snapped the book shut and placed it on a table.

"Of course not!" I gasped, exasperated that he thought I could even have that idea. "All we need is a recording amplified by a sonic device to echo all over the planet, repeating over and over. If all it takes is for them to hear a Dalek, then hear one they will."

"How?"

He was so cute when confused.

"We need to go and visit a man called Nicholas Briggs." I began, before explaining how, in my universe, he was the voice of the Daleks. All we needed to do was ask him to repeat the voice of the alien invaders from two years ago.

The Doctor was stunned. "That's brilliant! Allons-y!"

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**So, what do you think of her idea? Well, part of her idea anyway. The rest will be explained next chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yeah, I know...sorry. Anyway, I hope you like what she decides to do. Now, as some of you know I have had all these chapters pre-written up until now, but for this particular part of this fanfic this is the last pre-written chapter. I will be writing a few chapters up from scratch like the rest of you XD, so please, please don't kill me if I am a bit late updating.**

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**Chapter 19: Forming a Plan**

He ran to the console room and set us off before I could follow. Once we landed, I quickly worked with the Doctor to decide on a script that would truly terrify the Xenomorphs. Then I grabbed a CD and recorder and we left. Finding Nicholas wasn't difficult, but, similarly to the Nicholas who worked on Doctor Who, he did voice-overs and hardly had a spare minute. Eventually, though, we got fifteen.

"Hi, Mr Briggs, I'm the Doctor and this is Talia." The usual introduction went smoothly, although Nicholas did give the Doctor a strange look at his name. "We need you to do something for us."

"You see," I took over. "We are big fans of your work, and so is my little brother. He's all in to the scary and spooky and has asked me to help out with a school play. Could you just record a quick script in a certain voice, please?"

He shrugged. "Sure. It's nice to know that my name is getting out there. What sort of voice is it?"

"Do you remember the Daleks?" I asked.

He frowned. "Of course I do. You don't forget something like that often."

"Well, the play is a reconstruction of what happened two years ago, and we want the voices to be as authentic as possible. We decided to come to you."

"Ok…" he seemed a bit sceptical. "What do you want me to say?" I handed him the script. "Xenomorphs? I don't remember Xenomorphs being there."

"They didn't come to Earth." The Doctor intervened. "But we were among those who were taken to the Crucible and survived, and we saw them there. They were prisoners, just like us."

Of course, he had to say that, considering the script.

"Alright." Nicholas said, before trying out the voice. It only took him a few goes to get it right. Then I started recording as he read the short piece of writing.

"Thank you. That was perfect." I grinned at the Doctor. "Now, could you maybe do the same thing, but a bit higher this time, and just read this bit." I pointed. He did so. "Good, and then again but lower."

He did so, before asking, "What was that for?"

"Well, it's got to sound like there's more than one." I said matter-of-factly. "You really are talented."

"Thank you very much." The Doctor added.

Nicholas still seemed surprised, but said, "You're welcome. Glad I could help. Though it does seem overly professional for a school play."

"There's a competition for best play." I told him. "Winner gets a prize, but no-one knows what it is."

"Ah." He finally relaxed, the explanation good enough. "Well, give your brother my best. Sorry, but I've got to go now. Goodbye."

"Bye!" we both said.

We walked back to the TARDIS. I felt elated and full of hope for Rose and the others, as long as we could find her Doctor.

"So, how are you going to get that thing all over the world?" the Doctor asked once we were inside, indicating the CD.

"Well I hope that we can find Rose's Doctor, and that he's got his own sonic screwdriver. If he doesn't, then I'm sure he can work something out." I replied, having already considered this.

"I wish I could help more, but I've no idea what equipment he might have or where he could be. You're fighting an uphill struggle." He reminded me.

"I know. But I'm sure we'll find him or work something out." I made the effort to remain upbeat; I wasn't going to become pessimistic all of a sudden.

By now we only had about two hours left. I suggested we went and watched a movie, which the Doctor instantly agreed to. As the end credits rolled, he pulled me in for a hug and a kiss, knowing I would soon be gone.

"Good luck, Talia." He whispered, holding me close. I squeezed him just as much. "Please take care. I've managed to convince the TARDIS to bring you back here if you get injured seriously enough to need proper medical treatment, but I hope it doesn't come to that."

"I'll try." I whispered.

A few minutes passed. Then, sounding almost on the verge of tears, he said, "You're going."

Sure enough, I was flickering. "I love you." I whispered, but I wasn't quick enough to hear him say it back.

In a second, I was back in the underground kitchen. Only Rose was there, sitting on a chair and staring at an empty cup. She jumped when she realised I was there.

"Oh my God, you're back!" she cried. "I thought you'd gone for good!"

She pulled me into a hug, and it was then that I realised I truly was her and the others' only hope. When I'd disappeared, they must have all fallen into despair.

"Of course I am, Rose." I said, hugging her back. "I wasn't going to leave you. The TARDIS just didn't fully explain herself before, that's all. You know how she is."

We laughed. "So, I presume you've spent the last twelve hours with your Doctor. Learn anything useful?"

I noticed her voice was slightly off when mentioning 'my Doctor', but chose to ignore it; if all went well, she'd have hers back soon.

"Sure did." I replied with a grin, which she returned. "I've got a plan. But first, we need to find your Doctor."

"I may know how." She said excitedly. "But let's wait for the others before we tell each other."

"When will they be back?" I asked.

"In an hour or so. Martha and Mickey are on recon, and the others are getting food from a supplier the Doctor set us up with before…" she trailed off.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Sure enough, it wasn't long before, after a round of hugs and 'thanks for coming back', everyone was gathered around the lounge. They were all staring at me.

"Right, well, while I was away I worked out a means of ridding the Earth of the Xenomorphs. We, the Doctor and I, discovered that they have only one predator in the entire universe; Daleks."

"Daleks?" River gasped.

"So, what, are you going to prompt a Dalek invasion next?" Mickey demanded.

"That just brings on another problem." Sarah-Jane agreed.

"Quiet!" Rose shouted, and everyone silenced instantly. "I don't think Talia is that dumb, thank you very much. And I say Talia and not her and her Doctor because she explained to me earlier that this was entirely her plan."

"Sorry."

"I shouldn't have said that. Stupid."

"Please continue." Martha stopped the string of apologies.

"Thanks." I said. "Well, I remembered that in my universe, the one where there's the show called Doctor Who…was this place's me the same?" I asked quickly, not wanting to say something that would get everyone confused.

"Yes."

I couldn't see who answered, but that was good enough. "Ok, good. There was a man, named Nicholas Briggs, who provided the voice of the Daleks in the show. I knew he had to still exist in the other universe so we went to see him. Luckily enough, he was an actor there, too, who was just as good with his voice. We made up a story, wrote a quick script and got him to record it after telling him to mimic the voice of the aliens who invaded during the Planets in the Sky incident."

There were a few murmurs of confusion, then some of doubt as I paused to take a breath. Of course, the story wasn't over yet, but I had to tell them something else, first.

"Everyone, please remember something; I may not be the Talia from here, the Talia you know, but from what I've seen I am exactly like her. It would make things a lot better if you would please stop doubting me." I paused again, successfully getting everybody's full attention as they nodded in understanding. "Ok. The script involved Dalek voices, we got him to do three different voices to sound like multiple Daleks, screaming that they were going to exterminate the planet of all Xenomorphs. I then thought that, if we could somehow find Rose's Doctor, he could figure out a way to blast that sound all over the world. The Xenomorphs will be so frightened that they will leave and designate the planet unfit for habitation. Rose, come on." I beckoned to her and, grinning as much as the others were, she came to stand in my place as I sat down.

"The Doctor, well, my Doctor, told me before he disappeared that if I ever wanted to find him, to go home. Now, I know he didn't mean the TARDIS because by then the Xenomorphs already had it." She explained.

"But the Powell Estate's completely surrounded." Martha pointed out. "They know you used to live there."

"I know that." Rose agreed. "But since Talia came back earlier I've been thinking. We know there was one tunnel the Doctor made into the Powell Estate before he was captured. Remember? We used it once. But after that first time we got discovered, so before we left we made it so that whoever went through the tunnel and into the Estate would find the tunnel collapsed behind them. That's why we could never use it until now."

"Until now?" Sarah-Jane asked, frowning.

"Now we've got Talia."

I looked up at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You've got the Time Lord energy. Before, we would have been trapped in the Estate with certain death in the form of ten Xenomorphs waiting outside. Now, you can use the energy to destroy them and get us to the nearest tunnel which is a few blocks away." Rose's eyes were shining with hope as she continued to stare at me.

Which is why my heart sunk when I said my next words. "Rose, guys, the energy doesn't work like that. I've got no idea when it'll become available to me. I can't just call on it."

"Yes." River now interrupted. "We know that. But we also know that you almost always gain use of the energy in a tight or dangerous situation. **(let's remember that this place's Talia is a year older than this Talia, so she's used the energy more).** You can't get more dangerous than being surrounded by ten Xenomorphs."

"You're staking our lives on a possibility?" I demanded, my voice now rising.

"Talia, you're staking the life of the planet on a possibility!" Martha retorted, standing. "We don't know if Rose's Doctor will be able to do what you want him to do. He has been in hiding for months. He might not have any equipment at all, let alone some sort of sonic device! But it's the best chance we've got. You are the best chance we've got of getting out of the Powell Estate alive."

She put up a fantastic argument. I couldn't help but grin. "Alright, fine, I agree. When shall we leave?"

"It'd be better to go at night." River said.

"Then I don't see any point in wasting time. Let's go now." Rose cried, prompting everyone to start moving.

I stood, watching in a sort of daze, as Mickey and Martha grabbed guns, while Rose hurriedly changed into more suitable clothing. I noticed River and Sarah-Jane did nothing. "Aren't you coming?" I asked them.

"No, we decided that we should stay here." River said. "I'm too much of a target, and Sarah-Jane knows that if she gets caught her son will be killed also."

I felt a shiver of fear slide down my back as I realised what they were all risking for me. I stayed silent as we said goodbye to the two women and followed Rose along the tunnel.

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**Ok. So, what will Ten-Too have left for Rose? Will Talia come through? All will be told next time! Lol, that sounds like the end of a cheesy tv show XD.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Well, well, well, here they all go. Trying to find a message or something from Rose's Doctor. (If I just refer to the Doctor in the following chapters, you should be able to work out which one I'm talking about by the context). Hope you like what Talia does in the end! **

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**Chapter 20: Passwords**

Less than an hour later we had reached our destination and were climbing a rather rickety ladder up to the surface. No-one had spoken for about ten minutes; the nerves of our group were running high. I couldn't say for anyone else, but my thoughts were focussed on the pressure weighing down on me.

I had only had Time Lord energy inside me for a month and I had no idea what it could do or how I could control it or anything! What if nothing happened and we all got slaughtered?

My stomach twisted uncomfortably as I pulled myself up the ladder into what I quickly realised was Rose's old bedroom. The others all scurried up behind me before a series of dull rumbling thuds echoed as the tunnel collapsed. Mickey stood and stared back down the hole we had climbed up, where a pile of earth now blocked the tunnel completely.

"Well, we've only got one way out now." He commented, before going quietly over to the window. He pressed himself up to the wall and slowly pulled a corner of the curtain back, peering out. "There's three on this side of the block, there might be more over the other side."

"We'll look on the way out." Martha whispered, before turning to Rose. "Now, are we looking for something?"

Rose nodded. "I'd say he would have left a note somewhere, giving a clue as to where he was. They'll be several ways he will have hidden it from the Xenomorphs, should it have been found. I know they would have searched the flat."

"Any ideas?" I asked.

She shrugged. "A few, but I could be wrong. We'll start here in this room. Don't look anywhere obvious but do look in places that the Xenomorphs can't easily get to; small enclosed places."

We all nodded and, trying to be as quiet as possible, started scouring the room. I started on the bed, opening pillowcases and the duvet cover, unscrewing bed knobs and seeing if there was anything scrunched up inside, even feeling inside the mattress.

Nothing. From the sound of it the others had come up with just as much. I got down on my stomach and started filtering through the underside of her bed.

"Rose!" I hissed. "Your bed reminds me of mine at home."

"In what way?" she whispered back.

"I used to shove all my old stuff underneath it too."

She laughed quietly as I started pulling out old toys, a keyboard, password diary, recorder, Barbies, and loads of other items that must belong to some toy somewhere else. Then I found more teenage items such as nail polishes, lipsticks, a bra, etc.

"Wait!" Rose gasped, making us all turn. Mickey, who had his head behind a chest of drawers, cursed loudly as his head hit the wall trying to stand up.

"What is it?" I asked, pulling myself out from under the bed more delicately.

She went and picked up, to my surprise, the password diary. "I know it's just a simple human child's toy, but that's the point! The Xenomorphs are equipped to deal with the best Earth has got to offer! And unless they knew me, they couldn't guess the passwords!"

We all stared at her.

"You have got to be kidding me." Martha said.

"Yeah, sorry, Rose, but I don't think so." Mickey agreed.

I, on the other hand, could see her logic. I thought it was a dim possibility, but it did make sense. "Open it."

She nodded and pressed the button. "Now remember, I had this when I was six."

"Welcome to MyFirstDiary. Please answer the following three security questions." A woman's voice, far too bright and happy, chimed. "What is your favourite colour?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Rose, anyone could guess that."

"That's only one." She said, but a slight colour appeared in her cheeks. "Pink." She answered.

There was a pause. "Correct. What is your most prized possession?"

"My singing hairbrush." At everyone's look she added, "I was only six!"

Mickey tried and failed to hide a laugh. "A singing hairbrush. Haven't come across that yet."

"Because it was thrown out, shush!" Rose snapped as the woman spoke again.

"Correct. What is the name of your favourite stuffed animal?"

Rose really blushed now, closing her eyes before saying, hesitantly, "Tiddlywinks."

We couldn't contain our laughter this time.

"Shut up." She grumbled as the diary popped open, revealing several pages.

And on one of them…

"It's in Gallifreyan!" Martha moaned. "He really wanted layers of security! I knew River should have come!"

Sure enough, written on the first page in the circular script of the Time Lords was, as far as I could tell, one or two words. I wished I had enough Time Lord in me so I could read it, as my curiosity burned, but I knew we had to wait until we got back.

"At least we found it." I said, trying to sound upbeat. But I, like everyone else, knew that this was the easy part.

"Now we've just got to get out of here without turning into surrogate mothers for Xenomorphs. Piece of cake." Mickey muttered. Trust him to remind us all of the Doctor's execution. **(sorry Argetaie)**.

We crept out of Rose's flat, which was unlocked, and towards the main front door. We were lucky that the Xenomorphs hadn't thought to post any guards within the Estate itself, although that was probably because they thought we had no chance once we got out. I had to admit, similar thoughts were going through my head. I could feel none of the golden warmth of the Time Lord energy and wished the others would speak so I could partially distract my mind from that emptiness, but everyone was silent.

We stopped at the front door. I started to feel slightly ill. Mickey and Martha checked their guns, while Rose pulled a small alien blaster out of her pocket.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"The Doctor gave it to me a long time ago." She said sadly. "It's small, but it packs quite a punch."

"But the problem is, guns will only distract them unless we can get a shot in their mouths. Everywhere else is like armour." Mickey warned.

I nodded. He didn't say it, but I knew he was thinking _So it all depends on you_.

I took a deep breath, hoping that the fear and fury of battle would ignite something, and pushed open the door.

The three Xenomorphs stationed around the front of the Estate turned as one.

"It's them!" one screamed.

"Attack!" another screeched just as loudly, and they ran at us.

Mickey and Martha started blasting them back, but true to what was said, they recovered almost instantly and the exploding bullets left no mark on their shiny exoskeleton. Rose's laser blaster, too, did little more.

I dodged out of the way and tried to summon something of the energy, but nothing happened. I started to panic. Even if we ran for it, I could see that the Xenomorphs were fast. We would never make it to an entrance to a tunnel. The nearest one, Rose had told me, was a street away.

To everyone's horror, two more Xenomorphs appeared from the other side of the Estate. One of them joined the fray with a wordless battle screech, but the other saw me, standing off to one side, and ran towards me.

I froze.

At the last second, my mind started to work again and I threw myself out of the way as the alien launched its head downwards and its second mouth came shooting towards me as quick as a bullet. It missed my head, which would have surely killed me instantly, regeneration or no, but I felt the small teeth bite into my side just below my ribs. I screamed and rolled to the side.

That's when I felt it. A warmth blossomed in my chest and head. Everything took on a golden tinge. I got to my feet. The Xenomorph didn't attack and I realised that it was quite shocked, staring at me. Dimly, I realised I also had developed a golden aura.

In that moment, I wasn't Talia. I was something like the Bad Wolf, but not quite as powerful. I raised my hand towards the Xenomorph in front of me and, unconsciously, blasted a sort of shot of amber light towards it.

On contact, the Xenomorph's outer shell cracked, then exploded with an ear-splitting screech. All that was left after a few seconds was a burned patch of ground.

I turned and saw that the others were still struggling to hold their own. Martha had a nasty cut on her arm, but everyone else seemed unharmed for the moment.

I walked towards them and, just as I had the other one, destroyed all four other Xenomorphs. A load of whooping and cheering sounded from the others.

I looked down at where the Xenomorph had attacked me and saw that my healing abilities were still working…to a point. The injury had stopped bleeding and closed up, but it still hurt a lot and I realised that most of the internal damage hadn't been healed. I realised in the back of my mind that must be because of the different energies in this dimension, like the Doctor explained in The Rise of the Cybermen.

Just as suddenly as it appeared, the energy faded away. As it left, a blinding headache replaced it, and the pain from my side became more pronounced. I sat down tiredly, barely aware when the others reached my side.

"You did it!" Mickey crowed, only to be told off harshly by Martha.

"You'll attract more! But well done, Talia."

"Come on, let's get you back home where you can rest." Rose added.

Honestly? All I wanted was to go back to the TARDIS, but I knew that I wasn't exactly life-threateningly injured, so she wouldn't be bringing me back…yet. But, I supposed, being surrounded by friends who couldn't stop praising you…could be worse.

Rose and Martha pulled me to my feet. I told them not to fuss over my injury, but did let them know about my headache.

"It'd probably be because of the energy." Rose said slowly. "I remember the Doctor telling me that my head hurt while I was in Bad Wolf mode. Humans and Time Lord energy don't quite go together."

I nodded. That made sense, and the Doctor had said much the same to me.

"We need to get back." Martha warned. "They're going to play the psychic video any minute now."

I groaned. I had no desire to see that again, and I didn't think I could handle it in my present state. If only I could pass out. But my banging head kept me conscious as, one of my arms wrapped around Martha (which reminded me, with a shiver, of the Mimisa incident), we walked over to the tunnel entrance and slipped back down into safety.

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**Yes, you will find out what's on the note next chapter. Any guesses? Any guesses on where he is? Review, please!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Right, time to find out what the Doctor's message says! Will they find the Doctor himself? Wait and see!**

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**Chapter 21: Found!**

I must have passed out after all, or perhaps the headache grew so strong that everything else became a blur, because I did not remember seeing the repeat of the terrible scene. I came out of my trance or whatever it was only when we reached our 'base' and Martha gently lowered me onto the couch before rushing off for a cup of tea.

That lessened the headache considerably, and I realised now why the Doctor favoured it after a regeneration. Martha then began feeling my side, concluding that there was no lasting damage.

Finally, everyone was gathered for River to translate the half-human Doctor's message.

Her words confirmed what I had assumed earlier. "There's only a word and a number." She announced, her voice sad. "It says 'Goodbye, two'."

She looked around and her expression indicated that she believed it was as simple as that; a goodbye message for Rose and the real Doctor. But Rose and I thought differently.

"No. It's a code." I said quickly.

Rose nodded somewhat less eagerly. "Yeah, I think I know what it means. I know where he is."

"Where?" Sarah-Jane asked curiously.

Everyone looked towards Rose, similar expressions of puzzlement on their faces.

She obliged. "Goodbye, two. It means Darlig Ulv Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay, where we've said goodbye to each other twice. Well, me and the fully Time Lord Doctor."

"Yeah, I think the same." I agreed. "He wouldn't just tell her goodbye. Not in a situation like this."

"I hope not!" River cried. "That man can be impossible!"

"Well, let's plan a trip there, then." Mickey announced, quickly getting to his feet as though ready to leave right at that second, even though we had just been through what we had.

"How?" I demanded. "There are Xenomorphs everywhere! We'd be captured, and you know there's no guarantee that I can do what I did again."

"We know." River said, who had been explained already about our ordeal. "But there is a sure-fire way to get out of the city. Once we're out of the shield, we can use this." She held up a device I recognised: her (or Martha's) Vortex Manipulator.

"Shield?" I asked.

"There's a defence around every town and city." Martha explained. "Blocking all teleportation units. The Xenomorphs think there's no way to get out, but there is."

"So why haven't you left before?" I asked, curious.

They all shared looks and didn't respond. I suddenly understood; after the death of the Doctor, they simply hadn't had the will to.

Line

The next morning the six of us were huddled in amongst groceries and such in a courier van, heading out of Armidale. The ride was more than slightly uncomfortable, but the very fact that we were now free of Xenomorphs and on our way, hopefully, to a version of the Doctor gave us hope.

When the van stopped at the first property, we snuck out the back and tore off behind a few trees, waiting until it had gone on. River attached the Vortex Manipulator and set the coordinates.

"Right, now Bad Wolf Bay is really out in the open." Rose reminded everyone. "We have to hope that there aren't any Xenomorphs around when we get there."

We all nodded. As one, we placed our hands over River's and braced ourselves. The familiar blue light surrounded us, and the next thing we knew we were standing on a Norwegian beach. The sky was just as clouded as it had been every other time, the sea seemed to boil and fizz in the background.

"So," I began. "Where would he be? He's obviously not gonna be just standing down the shore."

"No." Rose, who seemed to have taken up the unofficial position of leader, agreed. "My best guess would be underground, like we've been."

"What? Under the sand?" Martha asked.

"No." I murmured, having been looking around. "Under a giant sand _dune_!"

Everyone turned to see what I was looking at; a huge hole large enough for a human to walk upright burrowed in to the biggest sand dune I had ever seen. It must have been twenty metres tall and had collected in-between two cliffs.

Then, a horrible hissing and clicking sound met our ears. I glanced up.

There, on the top of one of the cliffs, were two Xenomorphs. They knew. Somehow, they knew and they had been waiting for us.

To put it simply; we ran!

We slipped and slid across the sand – not the easiest ground to be running over when wearing sneakers – towards the tunnel entrance. Once inside, the thuds of the Xenomorphs jumping to the ground told us pursuit was on its way.

After a few more seconds of running, we almost ran into a huge round metal door. It actually looked like one of those doors that lead to where the money is kept in a bank. A safe door. The Doctor must be inside.

We all started banging on the metal.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed. "Doctor, it's us! Let us in!"

"Please, Doctor!" Martha added.

"There's Xenomorphs on our tail!" Sarah-Jane cried.

"Open the door!" I shouted. River pulled out her gun. Mickey went to stand next to her, his weapon also in his hands.

The aliens were upon us. The cramped conditions gave us a minor advantage, as the Xenomorphs had to stoop to avoid hitting their heads on the roof of the tunnel. But even as I watched, one slammed River into the side, where she crumpled, dazed.

Then, like a miracle; the creaking and groaning sound of a door that hasn't been opened for months. The metal door slid inwards enough for us all to fit in one at a time. A hand beckoned.

"Come on! Come in! Quickly!"

Martha grabbed River and pulled her inside. Sarah-Jane squeezed in, as did Rose. I followed and then reached out to grip Mickey's sleeve and drag him inside, too, as he was still trying to shoot the Xenomorphs.

The second that we made it, the Doctor slammed the door shut again. A Xenomorph claw appeared in the crack between the door and the wall, but with an incredible shove from the Doctor, it retracted the hand. He re-locked it, then leaned against it, panting.

We all stared at him and his…well, I don't know what you would call it. Half-laboratory, half-living room, half-bedroom. That was because it was just one quite large room, where all the walls and ceiling were fitted with the same metal as the door.

Half-built devices scattered tables, the floor and the bed, glowing liquids were stacked on a shelf along with what appeared to be a miniature TARDIS model, clothes were strewn everywhere and about twenty cups of tea with only the dregs in them were scattered around the room.

In short, it appeared the Doctor had gone to pieces.

He came over to stand in the middle of the room, looking at us all and running a hand through his hair.

"Well, yes…um…as you can see…um…it's a bit messy." He started hurriedly trying to pick up some of the clothes.

"Doctor." Rose said.

"Honestly, you'd think I'd clean up more often. I don't know…I just sort of…let go…"

"Doctor." She repeated, her voice breaking somewhat.

"I'm glad you've all come, of course, it's just…well…I don't know how much I can-"

"Doctor!" she finally screamed.

He looked up and his face showed all the emotions that the Doctor normally didn't: fear, guilt, love, more guilt, shame.

She ignored it all and went to embrace him in the tightest of hugs, while we all watched on with mixed emotions ourselves. I was feeling a combination of joy and hopelessness.

The Doctor, to my relief, returned her hug and planted a kiss on her forehead. **(remember, this is the human Doctor, so their relationship would be even stronger and more open than the Time Lord Doctor)****_. _**

"It's good to see you, Rose." He said quietly, before turning to the rest of us. "And all of you as well!" his eyes rested on me and his face, for the first time, split into a huge grin. I was reminded painfully of my Doctor waiting in the TARDIS, probably worried sick about me. "Talia! You've come, too! I thought you must have disappeared as I had!"

He pulled me into a hug, too, which I returned, but knew I had to explain things soon. I waited until he had properly greeted all the others before I said, "Doctor, a lot of things have been happening. For starters, I'm not the Talia you know."

And so I launched into an explanation of who I was and how I had gotten here. The others joined in with clarifying points or to add descriptions of what has happened since I arrived. Finally, I explained my plan to rid the world of the Xenomorphs.

"So, what do you think?" I asked at the end. "Do you have a way to help us?"

Considering the state of the room, I wasn't holding up too many hopes.

I was right. "If I had a sonic screwdriver, it would be no problem." The Doctor said sadly. "But at the moment I don't have the equipment to build anything sonic, let alone a screwdriver."

Just like that, it was over. All our hopes, all our plans had just been crushed.

We all sat down on clear parts of the floor and fell silent.

"Hey, don't do that." The Doctor said quickly. "I'm sure we can think of something. Just because I can't build a sonic, doesn't mean there's nothing we can do."

"Do you have a computer?" Martha asked without much enthusiasm.

"Uh…yes."

"With internet?" River added.

"Yes. It's hooked up to a subwave network."

My ears pricked up. "This network wouldn't happen to be created by Harriet Jones, would it?" when everyone looked at me strangely, I muttered, "Never mind."

"What good is a computer going to do?" Sarah-Jane's voice sounded as though she had completely lost hope.

I looked over at Rose and saw that her mind was working overtime. "Well, we know that the Xenomorphs have a psychic network running over the whole of Earth. That's how they show the…you know what…every day."

The Doctor was nodding. "Yes and…" he turned to each of us in turn, finally stopping on one. "Mickety-Mick-Mickey! You still a whiz on a computer?"

"Sure are, boss." He said, standing up.

"Reckon you could tap into the psychic network?"

Mickey was at the computer in a second, which was a laptop. "It'll take me a while, but I reckon I can!"

"Great!" The Doctor cried. "While you do that, I'm going to use this…" he went and lifted up a huge satellite dish and dumped it on the bed. I hadn't even noticed it before, as it was in a corner. "And a few other things I've got lying around here to get the sound into the network! We _can_ do this!"

* * *

**Can they? More will be explained about how next chapter! Now, I'm putting a poll up on my page that I'd really like you all to participate in as to (in a few chapters, once Talia gets back home) whether or not Donna should be brought into it?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi, guys! Sorry for the late post! I had writer's block all afternoon XD. Anyway, this chapter is sort of a fill-in, especially towards the end. Hope you all like it ^_^**

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**Chapter 22: Arguments/Conversations**

Our optimism and confidence was renewed instantly as the Doctor became more and more like his original self, bustling about, picking up bits and pieces and working on the satellite. Rose and Martha made sure River was okay, as she was unconscious, while I started tidying up the room just as I used to tidy up the TARDIS back home.

Again, thinking of home left a dull ache in my chest and I hoped that everything would work out and I could go back. I amused myself by imagining the Doctor's ecstatic face when I returned, and hoped he hadn't ripped up more of the TARDIS.

I was just putting the last few (now washed) tea cups onto a shelf when a loud and angry voice made me nearly drop them.

"Honestly, Doctor! You took your bloody time opening that door!"

River had woken up.

The Doctor turned, looking like a kid who had just been caught doing something naughty. "Well…I was kind of having a nap…"

"You didn't hear us breaking the door down?" she demanded, getting to her feet and stomping over to him, fixing him with her best impression of his Oncoming Storm look.

He seemed to shrink back from that look and I struggled not to laugh. I noticed the others were similarly trying. Mickey was doubled up with silent chuckles.

"Oi! It wasn't exactly my fault! I thought I was dreaming at first! You lot are the first visitors I've had in months, you dumbo!" He shouted.

Everyone gasped; he sounded so much like Donna! I'd forgotten that he had some of her human nature **(pun intended)** in him. We couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into laughter. He turned pink.

River flicked him on his forehead. "You are an idiot."

We couldn't stop for several minutes before, gasping, we all returned back to what we were doing. I glanced over at Mickey and saw numbers and symbols all over the computer screen that even I, who had studied computers a lot in school, couldn't make head or tail of them.

"Any luck?" I asked him as I moved past, folding a few ties over my arm. God! The Doctor was messier half human than he was full Time Lord!

"A bit." He replied. "It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. It'll take at least another hour."

"Wow." I muttered, impressed that he had even made any progress. "Good luck."

River was now pressing her little device that looked like a tablet against the door. "They're gone." She announced, referring to the Xenomorphs, before going over to the Doctor and correcting him on several parts of his contraption, much to his annoyance.

Martha and Rose were discussing what they were going to do once the Earth was free.

"First of all, I'm going to paint my whole house white!" Rose cried. "I'm sick of the black and dark green that these things have infested us with!"

"I agree." Martha said. "But the first thing I'm going to do is get my family back together."

"Of course! I can't wait to see my family again!"

They continued in that manner and I decided not to bother them. I went and sat down against the door, pondering my own actions after our plan, if it worked, was carried out. Would the TARDIS bring me straight back? And what about this universe's Talia? Where was she? Was she dead? Something told me 'no' to the last one, but I didn't know if that was true or not.

To my surprise, Sarah-Jane came and took a seat next to me.

"You're so much like her, you know." she commented as though reading my mind. "Our Talia. She was exactly like you. Brave, loyal and intelligent."

I supposed that was a compliment. "Thank you. I think we must be very similar."

Sarah-Jane nodded. "Yes. But she was also sadder than you, I think, because she had lost her parents. Yours are back in your own world waiting for you, as well as your Doctor. I've got nothing against _him_." She added, indicating the Doctor standing by the satellite. "But he is only part Time Lord. If something goes wrong, he cannot regenerate."

She sighed.

"But besides that he's the same as the other Doctor." I said, trying to perk her up. "He's just as witty, just as intelligent and just as old, even though he won't live longer than the average human."

"Yes, I suppose, and I am happy that Rose has at least got him. She has been so different since the other one was captured. I was so worried for her. And then you came." She turned to me and her eyes were shining with renewed hope. Although that put more pressure on me, her appreciation brought tears to my eyes. "You came like a miracle and now it seems like we will finally be free again."

Trying not to let the tears fall, I nodded. "I promise, Sarah-Jane, I will do whatever I can to reunite you and your son."

She smiled. "Thank you." Then her face turned grave again. "We're going to have to say goodbye to you, aren't we? When this is all done?"

I nodded sadly. "Unfortunately, yes. But don't give up hope. If your Talia is not dead, you can find her, too!"

She opened her mouth to respond when there was a small explosion, filling the room with black smoke.

"Sorry, sorry!" The Doctor cried out. "Just a minor malfunction!"

"Minor malfunction?" River's confronting voice answered him from somewhere in the smoke. She coughed before continuing. "I _told_ you not to put it there!"

"No you didn't." the Doctor stubbornly refused as the smoke cleared. He was glaring at River, both eyebrows pulled into a single lined frown.

"Of course I did, sweetie, but as usual _you weren't listening_!" River snapped back.

As their argument continued, getting absolutely nothing done, I giggled and turned to Sarah-Jane. "Say me old River, same old Doctor, same old fights."

"Does it happen back in your universe?" she asked.

"Sort of." I answered, deciding not to go into the Eleventh Doctor at that moment. "How much longer before everything's ready?" I called out to River.

"If he listened to me, about half an hour." She replied. "Because he won't…who knows?"

The Doctor pursed his lips. "Oi! It's my idea! My equipment! I think it would be nice if you were just a smidgen _nicer_ yourself!" he then turned to me and grinned. "Not long, to answer your question. I've just got to recalibrate this."

He held up what looked like a blue bendy neon bracelet. He shook it and it promptly started glowing.

"What's that?" Rose asked, approaching. So did the rest of us. I couldn't understand what he had to recalibrate; the thing didn't have any buttons or metal parts, and he didn't exactly have his screwdriver.

"The one thing from the screwdriver I still have." He replied gleefully.

"But earlier you said you didn't have any sonic equipment!" Martha cried accusingly.

"I thought I didn't." he corrected. "I found this earlier stuffed underneath the bed and remembered that I'd kept it in a pocket after disassembling the sonic…"

"Get to the point, what's it for?" Rose knew better than to let him continue his monologue.

"Well, it's the part of the screwdriver that made it sonic. All the other stuff gave it the rest of its functions, but this was the part relative to sound! That's why if I attach this correctly to the satellite, and Mickey over there can get into the psychic network, this might actually work."

We all thought it was the best news we had had all day. Mickey seemed to increase his efforts to crack the network and the Doctor and River finally stopped arguing and worked together. I struck up a conversation with the rest of the girls when they asked where I had been with the Doctor.

I was just explaining about the Sahara Desert when a voice behind me cried, "Talia!"

I looked up, but the Doctor was engrossed in his experiment. But then who…

Turning around, I was shocked to see another Doctor behind me, only this one was fuzzy around the edges, see-through and kept blinking like a dodgy television.

"I got through! I'm sorry, it'll only last about a minute but I _had_ to see if you were okay!" he cried.

I could do little more than stare at him. The back of my mind realised that no-one else was and, instantly, an answer appeared; this was a psychic message and no-one else could see or hear it. I was even unconsciously speaking psychically. Even though he kept blinking in and out of existence, I could see that there were dark shadows under his eyes and his suit had several burn marks on it. He had obviously not slept or left the TARDIS alone since I'd left.

"I'm – I'm fine." I gasped. "How…?"

"The TARDIS." He explained. There was a wild, desperate look in his eyes as he gazed at me and I had the funny feeling that he was close to destroying the poor girl just to get to me. "I'm sort of doing what I did for Rose, but I'm not burning up a star to do it." Just then he spotted Rose and mouthed her name, his expression getting, if possible, even more frazzled.

"It's a different Rose." I said quickly, aware of our short time span. "Not ours."

He seemed sad, but then turned back towards me. "I hope everything's going okay with you. If it were up to me, you'd be back here right now, but it's not. Stupid time machine!"

"Doctor!" I cried, shocked. "It's not her fault! I have to help them. Look, everything's going well. We're going to succeed, I know it, and she'll bring me back in no time."

"B-but what if you get hurt between now and then?"

In that moment, I realised quite how much he cared about me. Everything, from his obviously sleepless nights, to his frantic look, suddenly made sense. I wished I could hug him and tell him I would always be alright.

"I can take care of myself, Doctor." I reminded him.

"I know you can, but…" he trailed off as the connection got even fuzzier. "Oh no! Ten seconds! Sorry, Talia, I wish I could stay! Good luck!"

He said something else that sounded suspiciously like 'I love you', but it was lost. Oh come on, I thought, am I only going to get to hear him say it once?

I blinked and he was gone completely. Then I realised that everyone was staring at me.

"Sorry, guys!" I said quickly. "Psychic message from home."

* * *

**I have to apologise, too, because I might not be able to update tomorrow morning :(. If not, I will definitely update some time during the day. It's only because I'm writing the chapters now. There should only be one or two more chapters of this part, however, and then I've got some more pre-written ones XD.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Alright, it's time to see if they will succeed or not! And will they find Talia? Wait and see!**

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**Chapter 23: Allons-y!**

Half an hour later, the Doctor was urgently ordering us around to retrieve the various wires he was plugging both into his satellite and the laptop. Everything was underway; Mickey had gotten through and between the Doctor and River, the sonic satellite was finished. I had inserted the recorded CD into the laptop, which was now being connected to the satellite.

"Right." The Doctor said once everything was finished. He looked far more like his old self now, with a new suit on and his aura now radiating confidence, than he had when we had first come inside. "It's time. Allons-y!"

Grinning, the rest of us opened the huge door while the Doctor, with the satellite, and Mickey, with the laptop, strode down the tunnel. We followed, murmuring excitedly to each other.

"It's going to work!" I cried gleefully, amazed and quite proud of the idea that I had and also of the Doctor and Mickey who had, really, done all the hard work.

"I know!" Rose said, just as excited.

We burst out into the dim sunlight of Bad Wolf Bay…only to be confronted with around fifty Xenomorphs.

"The human Doctor has been located!" One of them screeched.

"All of his companions are present!" Another agreed and, for the first time I recognised an emotion in the Xenomorphs; a strange sort of sick joy.

"Yes, that's true!" The Doctor called out, knowing that he had to keep them talking while he fiddled quickly with his satellite to get it powered up. "B-but we have a plan! You, are all Xenomorphs! You see? Nothing more, nothing less. And what are Xenomorphs most afraid of?"

He looked around at the assembled aliens, while we all stood behind him nervously, as though he was a teacher waiting for an answer.

"You ready, boss?" Mickey asked quietly.

"Sure are." The Doctor whispered, before answering his own question loudly to the crowd. "Daleks!"

Then he thrust the satellite towards the sky and Mickey pressed play.

For a terrifying second, nothing happened, then, in our minds and as clear as day, a series of voices screamed, "EXTERMINATE! XENOMORPHS DETECTED, XENOMORPHS HAVE INVADED THE PLANET KNOWN AS EARTH! EXTERMINATE ALL XENOMORPHS! EXTERMINATE ALL XENOMORPHS!"

The recording went on in that manner for about a minute before, known only to the rest of us, it repeated.

I had expected surprise from the Xenomorphs, I had expected fear. What I hadn't expected was for them all to, quite literally, scream and _scatter_!

The Xenomorphs tore from the Bay like ants running from a human's boot. They slipped and stumbled up the dunes and away, while the rest of us cheered loudly and hugged each other in joy.

"Let's get back to Armidale." River announced, programming her vortex manipulator. "We know they've got a base there. Let's scare them out of their nest!"

Of course, she was loving this. We all placed a hand on hers – the Doctor and Mickey with some difficulty due to what both were holding – and teleported. The next thing anyone knew, we were standing right in the middle of Armidale near the library. The psychic barrier around the city must have broken, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten in.

Xenomorphs and humans were running everywhere. I grabbed a hold of one human, who I vaguely recognised, and hissed, "It's not real! It's us! We're getting them off our planet!"

The person's terrified expression became one of shock, then amazement. She instantly started grabbing others and telling them the news, too. Soon all of the people were forming a crowd around us, as the recorded messages continued to be blasted all over the Earth.

The cheering was almost as loud as the Daleks' voices, but I don't think any of us cared. I felt almost giddy with relief that we had done it! It was all over…But then something happened.

I was looking up at the sky, so I think I was the first one to spot it. Three Xenomorph ships circling the city, armed and ready. Then, they drew everyone else's attention as a deep Xenomorph voice boomed, "There are no Daleks! No Dalek life signs detected! It is a ruse!"

I looked from the Doctor to Sarah-Jane to Rose and saw my expression of horror mimicked in them. Mickey stopped the transmission.

"What do we do?" he asked the Doctor.

He ran a hand through his hair, eyes wild, and I could almost see his mind working fifty times quicker than the rest of ours. Then something clicked and he ran, dropping the satellite. I struggled to keep up with him as we followed, as his longer legs took him twice the distance in one stride than it took me.

To my surprise, he was racing towards the university.

"Doctor!" I called. "We'll never get there quick enough by running!"

He slowed but did not stop, now looking from side to side. Then he did something else that surprised me; he stole a car using the sonic part from the satellite that I hadn't even realised he picked up.

"Well don't stare at me like that, this is a bit of a life-or-death situation!" He snapped once sitting in the driver's seat. "Get in!"

We did, me rather dubiously. Could the Doctor even drive a modern car? I knew about Bessie, his yellow old-fashioned car when he was in his third incarnation…but a modern car?

Turns out my worries were needless; the Doctor drove us quickly to the university, avoiding people and Xenomorph gunfire alike. He didn't hesitate to run over any Xenomorphs who didn't get out of his way, which was often a bumpy experience.

We pulled up near the university and the Doctor did something to Martha, Mickey and River's guns – which they had brought with them just in case – saying that they would now kill a Xenomorph in one shot. I was impressed and wondered why the old Doctor, with his sonic screwdriver, hadn't done that before.

"These are new guns. We didn't have them before." River told me, as though reading my mind.

After that, basically, we stormed the place. Mickey grabbed Rose and headed off towards the weapon storage, returning five minutes later with extra guns for me, Sarah-Jane and Rose herself. The Doctor, of course, wouldn't have one, despite Mickey's protests.

"You're letting us use them!" he snapped.

"Exactly, so I don't need to use one." The Doctor replied.

"Both of you, shut up!" I hissed, prompting shocked looks. But I had heard, or rather felt something. The TARDIS was calling. A few seconds passed, then the Doctor and the others felt it as well. "That's what you came here for, isn't it?" **(note: this is because they have all travelled in the TARDIS and so all experienced it in their minds)**

He nodded, before tearing off at a run towards the source of the call. Whether it was our good luck or whether it was because most of them had abandoned the base after the first scare, but we hardly came across any Xenomorphs. The ones we did were quickly taken care of.

As expected, the door to the room where the TARDIS was being kept was locked. Before the Doctor could sonic it, Mickey stepped forward and blasted it open. Inside, the TARDIS instantly started shining its roof light, as though letting us know that it was happy to see us.

The Doctor raced inside and started pressing buttons and pulling levers like nobody's business.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked as we followed.

"Nowhere!" he replied, then started speaking really fast, rapid-fire-like. "Now that Mickey's tapped into the psychic network – could you give us the laptop, please? – I can use the TARDIS – Sarah-Jane, would you hold that down – to create holograms of Daleks while we play the recording."

"The TARDIS can do that?" I gasped, quite impressed. "But, they were scanning for life signs, holograms don't have life signs?"

"No." he agreed. "But my holograms do!"

As he pulled one final lever and got Mickey to plug the laptop into the TARDIS and press play, I suddenly remembered the time the Doctor had gotten 'revenge' for me getting him tipsy one night; holograms that felt so real they actually shot lasers.

A wild smile grew across my face as hope was renewed.

We returned outside again, once the Doctor assured us that it would work on its own. The Doctor and Sarah-Jane stayed in the university to rescue Jack and any other prisoners, while we watched the very entertaining show.

Daleks were everywhere, shooting skywards at the Xenomorph ships. The recording played, as well, but everything was so well timed that it seemed real.

The Xenomorphs believed it.

"Dalek life signs detected!" Ships began screaming. "All Xenomorphs evacuate planet! All Xenomorphs evacuate planet!"

We cheered, and slowly the rest of the people realised what was going on and cheered, too. For the first time since I'd been here, the sky cleared of clouds and the sun shone its light on the city as the Xenomorph ships exited the atmosphere and vanished. People started turning on car radios.

"Yes, it's astonishing! They're disappearing!"

"Reports are coming in of the same phenomenon occurring all over Europe and America!"

"Xenomorphs are running!"

The various stations reported the global news, only increasing the volume of the cheering. Then something happened to make them even louder; a bunch of prisoners streamed out from the university and started re-joining their families. For a moment, I was stunned; what if they had baby Xenomorphs in them? But then I realised that the Doctor wouldn't have let people out if that was the case.

Among them were Martha's parents and Captain Jack Harkness.

Martha ran to embrace her mother and father, while Jack waved to us all and acted as if he hadn't just been a prison. I couldn't get the grin off my face.

The Doctor and Sarah-Jane came out and over to us.

"We'll keep that going to half an hour or so, just to make sure they're all gone." The Doctor told us, grinning himself.

Then… "Rose! Doctor! Martha!"

Wow! That was really strange! Everyone looked at me, then realised I hadn't said anything. We started looking around frantically.

I spotted her first; an eighteen year old girl with long black hair and brown eyes was running out of the crowd of freed prisoners towards us. It was like looking in a mirror. A mirror that showed me with a lot of weight lost and paler skin.

The Talia of this universe had been captured! That's why no-one had heard of her!


	24. Chapter 24

**So, how will the other Talia react? Will Talia be hugged to death by the Doctor when she goes home? Lol, all will be revealed in this chapter!**

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**Chapter 24: Home Again**

She stopped halfway towards us and stared, spotting me herself. Her eyes widened, the she approached more slowly. Her eyes did not leave my face.

"What the TARDIS?" she muttered, frowning. "How did…who are…what?"

"Hi…Talia." I said quietly. "I'm…well…an alternate you."

` "How did you get here? Are you the one that's been helping them?" she asked, looking around at everyone else.

"Yeah." I admitted, before briefly explaining how I had gotten here. "I've got to leave soon, though, so…"

This surprised her. "Oh. Well, thank you so much for what you've done."

Her expression perked up instantly as she realised truly what had happened. She then turned to the others and started embracing them all. They did the same, some, like Rose and Sarah-Jane, almost crying in relief to have their Talia back. Mickey clapped her on the shoulder. When she came to the Doctor, he picked her up and twirled her around, before pulling her close.

She smiled, but then pulled away as a realisation struck her.

"One heart." She muttered. "Of course. I did see it but I tried to hope…I mean I thought it might have been a fake, like the hologram Daleks. I guess not."

She looked so sad that I had the sudden urge to hug her myself; I knew that when I was sad all I needed was a hug. But I hesitated; would the other me be the same? And would she appreciate a hug from herself? It was too confusing. More confusing than when I met the future me.

Roughly half an hour later, when the holograms had been turned off and the planet declared free of Xenomorphs, I sat on one of the hills overlooking the city. I knew I had to go home and I really, really wanted to – I missed my Doctor and the TARDIS and, of course, my parents – but I also knew I would miss everyone from here. We'd been through a lot. Sure, everyone but the meta-crisis Doctor and Rose was back home, too, but it just wouldn't be the same.

I felt guilty for that. My only concern, now my job was done, should be to go back but…

My thoughts were interrupted when another person came and sat down next to me. Looking over, I was surprised to realise that it was myself.

"Hi." I said.

"Hey." She gave me a smile, which relieved me greatly; I had feared that she thought I was sort of trying to replace her. "You've done really well. Thanks, again. I don't think they could have done it without you."

I looked down. "If you were there, they would have done."

"Nah. I never would have found out that the Xenomorphs were scared of Daleks." She nudged me in the shoulder; it was a friendly gesture.

"Actually, it was the Doctor who found that out." I laughed.

"Your Doctor?"

My laughter died. I shouldn't have mentioned that. Poor other me, I thought, she doesn't have her Doctor any more.

"Hey, I know it'll be difficult, but you can't give up just because he's dead. I mean, I know very well that one day he will regenerate, so I've got to be ready for that day. You know, you've seen his next self, unfortunately I know I won't love him romantically, like I do this one. I'll be in the same boat as you, but hopefully not soon!" I tried to explain.

"But you'll still have a Doctor." She said sadly.

"You've got a Doctor." I corrected. "And he won't regenerate. He'll stay the same until he dies."

"Then what?" she demanded, suddenly becoming angry. "When the human Doctor dies, there won't be a Doctor anymore!"

I didn't have anything to say to that. In fact, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

After a moment, I said quietly, "Even though that might be the case, you've got to keep strong. You yourself are part Time Lord. You can even regenerate and not change your appearance. You could be the new, female Doctor!"

Her eyebrows shot up. "I didn't think of that. But…I don't know how many times I will be able to regenerate. And I'm pretty sure I'll only live as long as a normal human, too."

"But then you've got River, who obviously can't regenerate anymore but will probably live longer."

She nodded slowly and I saw hope return to her eyes. "You're right. It's not over, just because the Doctor is gone."

I smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulders. She didn't shrug me off.

We returned to the group, for I finally felt like I could leave. They had their Talia. It was time for me to go home.

The goodbyes were emotional.

"You are brilliant. Never forget that." I told Martha as I hugged her.

"Thank you, Talia." She replied, squeezing me back.

I told Rose to look after her Doctor, and she responded by telling me the same. Mickey gripped me in a bear hug and wished me good luck on whatever happened next.

"When you go back, come and see me." Sarah-Jane asked. "I think I'd like that."

"I'll make sure we do." I promised.

Jack, being Jack, tried to kiss me. I put up a hand between us and warned, "You try anything funny and I'll kick you somewhere it'll hurt."

He merely laughed and contented himself with a hug instead.

The Doctor planted a gentle, friendly and innocent kiss on my forehead and whispered, "I hope you find Rose and I. One day."

I nodded, not being able to promise anything.

Finally, the other Talia wished me good luck and embraced me once again. I looked around at all of them, feeling slightly overwhelmed and trying not to cry. "I wish you all the best of luck as well." I said.

My gaze roved over the scenery behind them and I smiled upon seeing that repairs were already underway. Crowds of people mingles here and there. As far away as I could see, a flash of blue caught my eye. Grinning now, I looked at the other Talia.

"Don't give up hope." I said.

She frowned. "What?"

"Maybe you were right. Goodbye, everyone."

Before she could ask again, I looked skyward and murmured, "TARDIS, take me home."

Everything around me flickered. I blinked, and just like that I was back in the console room. I stumbled, then straightened, expecting to be knocked to the ground by the Doctor's hug.

I smiled gently as I spotted him; he had crashed out on the console, sitting on the chair with his cheek pressed to a button that, luckily, didn't seem to be doing anything. I realised I had thought correctly; he hadn't slept in days. Dark shadows were under his eyes, and his face seemed more lined than before.

The TARDIS' console was also even more disassembled than last time. Sighing, I patted her and whispered, "Sorry, old girl." on behalf of the Doctor.

I considered waking him, but knew that he needed his sleep so I fetched a blanket and gently draped it over him, before taking a seat in the other chair.

Not long passed before he stirred. He didn't spot me at first, blinking sleepily and looking at the TARDIS. He frowned. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep." He muttered to himself.

I grinned. "Hi, Doctor. I'm back."

He jumped, before looking at me. The light returned to his eyes and he grinned, too. We met in an instant; he squeezed me so tightly that I almost couldn't breathe, but I didn't mind. His breathing was heavy and, with a small shock, I realised he was trying not to cry. He was very good at it; of course, after nine hundred years of losing companions, he would have learned the hard way how not to cry.

"Oh, Talia! I've been so worried about you! You've got to tell me everything that happened." He whispered.

I pulled away just enough to be able to look up at him. "I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine! You, on the other hand, are not! You haven't been taking care of yourself, have you?"

"Of course I have." He said absently. When I looked at him, raising my eyebrows, he rolled his eyes and admitted, "Fine! But how could I, when I didn't know if you would come back, if you were dead or not! The TARDIS would bring you back if you were gravely injured, but not if you were already dead!"

The wild look returned to his eyes. I reached up and cupped his face. "Relax." I ordered. "It's all okay now."

He squeezed his eyes shut as though really trying not to cry. He gripped one of my hands with his own. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Aw, come on! You should be proud of me!" I grinned, wanting the sad mood to go away.

He gave me a small smile and gently kissed my hand. "I am proud of you. Of course I am."

I looked around, pulling away. He wouldn't let go of my hand. "You've tried to kill the TARDIS." I noted.

He looked at me sheepishly. "Well…sort of…not really…"

I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, Doctor! You really are pathetic when you're on your own."

"Oi!" he snapped and I laughed. That's the Doctor I know.

"Come on then, you. We both need to rest." I started dragging him away from the console.

"Hey! You're not my mother!" He cried, trying to stop me.

"No, but I care about you just as much. Now go and sleep!"

He looked like he was deciding whether to laugh or not. "You've barely been back ten minutes and already you're ordering me around."

"Yeah, well I've just come back from leading a revolution, get used to it!" I winked at him. "I'll tell you all about it in the morning. Oh, and when you wake up, you have to rebuild the console."

"I was going to do that anyway." He grumbled, but his eyes shone with pride. He gripped my hand once more before heading off to his bedroom.

"It's good to be home." I murmured before doing the same.

* * *

**Yes, that flash of blue is what you are all thinking it is. Honestly, did you really think I would kill the Doctor? It's like you don't know me at all! *winks* I know, I know, I'm expecting more death threats because of this. Sorry...**


	25. Chapter 25

**Phew! Haven't received any death threats for last chapter...yet. This one takes place a few weeks after that one and brings back some of the fun, at first. **

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**Chapter 25: Fossil Feats**

"Remind me again why we're being chased by dinosaurs!" I gasped as we ran for our lives upon a flat, cracked plain that extended as far as the eye could see. Old dinosaur bones littered the vast area and the ancient sun beat down heavily on the back of my neck. And yet, despite my whinging, I loved it!

"You wanted to see prehistoric Earth!" he cried back, blaming it all on me. "Here it is! Two Triceratops angry that we stepped into their nest!"

"That was your fault!" I retorted, remembering how he had 'accidentally' dropped an egg that he just _had _to pick up.

It had all started rather innocently. I had woken up and the Doctor asked where I wanted to go. I said I'd love to see some real dinosaurs, as I'd had a real obsession with them when I was a kid. He obliged immediately, landing us on Earth around 67 million years ago.

It truly was beautiful to see ancient Earth how it was before humans, before cities or civilisation, just completely natural. Exotic plants that must have now been extinct were everywhere; most were gigantic! Dinosaurs seemed to roam about all over the place; ones with clubs on their tails, or hard spikes on their heads, or even feathers! There were even some small mammals and birds around, too.

We wandered around, for the most part keeping a wide distance between us and any dinosaurs, herbivores or otherwise, until we stumbled across the Triceratops' nest. I was curious enough to look at the eggs in wonder but, of course, the Doctor picked one up and studied it with his glasses on, commenting that it was at a very early stage and probably wasn't even formed yet.

Then he dropped it.

I was furious enough at him for killing a baby dinosaur, before the parents came down on us. Just a normal day time travelling.

Back in the present, the Doctor responded to my accusation. "We'll discuss this later, run!"

I could have laughed, if it wasn't for the stitch in my side.

The dinosaurs' feet were like thunder strikes, and they were getting closer. Each as big as a bus, their three horns sharp as daggers and their skin looked to be as impenetrable as the TARDIS. Then I looked ahead and felt my heart jump into my throat.

"Doctor!" I shouted, pointing.

He followed my gaze and frowned; ahead of us was a solid cliff face. I wondered how we missed it before, but we had been so intent on running and glancing nervously over our shoulders. Looking left and right, I saw that it continued for several hundred metres in both directions. Even if we turned, the Triceratops' would catch us. They were almost on our tail now. The ground shook so much that it was almost difficult to run.

"What do we do?" I asked him.

He didn't answer until we reached the cliff, turning and staring at the fast approaching dinosaurs.

"Well, we…um…" for once he seemed lost. His eyes darted everywhere, trying to figure out a way out of here. Then he began muttering to himself. "The most advanced race in the universe, no problem, but put me in front of two angry dinosaurs…"

"Doctor! No time for this!" I screamed as the creatures pelted towards us. Impact was only seconds away.

"Right, when I say now, throw yourself to your right. I'll go left. Hopefully, they'll smash against the rock and be dazed enough for us to head back to the TARDIS." He said at 100km/hr.

"Ok." I murmured, having no choice but to trust him.

"Now!" he yelled and I did what he said as the dinosaurs hit.

I was a split second too late; one of the horns pierced through my shoulder, but I still moved in time to avoid being squashed. His plan had worked; they were dazed and one of them had a horn stuck in a crack in the cliff.

The Doctor came over, realising through some sixth sense that I was injured. I didn't know the extent of it at first, adrenaline numbing the pain. Then I looked.

"Oh. My. God." I whispered, feeling myself pale. The horn had literally sliced through the muscle; a huge gaping gash was positively gushing blood. The mere sight of it made my head start spinning, and the pain brought on intense nausea.

"Talia, Talia, look at me." The Doctor's voice was strangely calm. I obeyed. His eyes were wild with concern but his voice remained soft, to keep me from panicking. "We've got to get you back to the TARDIS, now."

He pointed the sonic screwdriver at my shoulder and it closed slightly, lessening the blood flow. I was still feeling very weak. My legs were wibbly-wobbly and I was struggling to keep from going into shock from both the weakness and the vision of my wound plastered onto my mind's eye. But I pulled myself to my feet, placed my left hand on my shoulder and followed the Doctor as he ran.

He continually glanced at me, making sure I was running as well. I didn't hear a pursuit yet, which was one good thing, but each step sent jarring bolts of agony through my arm and the rest of my body. Biting my lip to keep from groaning, I quickly began to fear that I would pass out before reaching the TARDIS.

After having to jump over a particularly large crack in the ground, the wound ripped wide open again. I stopped, gasping, trying to hold the gash closed despite my light-headedness and nausea. The Doctor sonicked it again, to little avail. The pain and dizziness seemed to surround me in waves, like I was in the middle of an ocean, threatening to pull me under. Blackness gathered at the edges of my sight.

Then we heard the sound of pounding feet.

The Doctor swore in what I presumed was Gallifreyan, something I'd never heard him do before. The surprise momentarily cleared my head. He ripped off a piece of his coat and wrapped it tightly around my shoulder. It instantly turned red, but he pushed me ahead of him and yelled at me to run.

"Just make it to the TARDIS, Talia, that's all you have to do. I've got everything I need to fix you up there!"

Easy for you to say, I thought, you're not losing loads of blood. My vision was still blurry, but a spark of hope was ignited as I saw the TARDIS in the distance. The Doctor's hand on my back urged me onwards.

His voice was right by my ear. "You can do it. Come on. Just a few more metres."

I would do anything for that voice. Gasping, gripping his arm with my good hand, I stumbled the last few steps, oblivious of how close or far the dinosaurs were. The world was spinning, my head was floating, but against all odds I made it over the threshold. The Doctor slammed the door shut behind us.

I barely made him out as he quickly sped us into the Time Vortex – from what I could see, he used random coordinates. I struggled not to faint, collapsing onto one of the chairs. My eyelids fluttered.

Feeling very disconnected from my body, I sensed the Doctor pick me up extremely gently. Then sometime between that point and reaching the med bay, I blacked out.

A sharp, intense, burning spark of agony brought me back to consciousness with a yell.

"Doctor, what are you doing!" I hissed, automatically pulling away from the source of the pain; whatever he was doing to my shoulder.

He tutted at me. "Stay still! You'll damage the IV."

I turned my head slightly and realised I was in the middle of a transfusion. Of course. The amount of blood I'd lost needed to be replaced. Then I looked down at my shoulder and felt my stomach twist unpleasantly.

The gash, now finally not oozing blood, was slowly being stitched back up. "Thanks." I said, looking away again.

He managed a light chuckle. "No need. I'm impressed you can even look. You had me scared there, for a moment, when you collapsed. You humans don't do well with blood loss. Your heart even stopped for a moment." He poorly hid his worry at the end and I hoped he hadn't stressed too much. What was I talking about? This was the Doctor. Of course he over-stressed.

"Hark at you." I snapped, trying to hide my shock and fear at his words. "What about that…vampire thing the day you met Martha, draining you of blood and stopping both your hearts. You're lucky you didn't regenerate that day."

He raised an eyebrow. "You remembered that? Huh, I keep forgetting how much of a 'fan' you are. Yeah, that did happen. That was quite…frightening. But then again, I'd just lost Rose so I wasn't really that concerned about my own physical health."

I hissed as he continued his stitching and he apologised.

"Dinosaurs." I muttered. "You know, in all the time travelling I've seen you do, I never thought I'd be running from an angry Triceratops."

He grinned, his eyes remaining focussed on the job at hand. I gritted my teeth against the uncomfortable pain, although his smile made me want to return the gesture as it always did. "I thought you'd be used to the weird and strange by now."

"I am used to all the scientific, timey-wimey stuff, just not the very physical being chased by dinosaurs part." I said.

Another few minutes passed, and then the Doctor cut the thread and placed the needle on a bench. "Right, done. You might have a bit of a scar for a few weeks, but it'll fade."

I tentatively moved my arm. Wincing at the sharp flashes that shot up my neck, I stopped. "I think I'll wait to move it."

"You should." He agreed. "It looked worse than it was, but even so the stitching was essential. It's a good thing 'Doctor' isn't just a title."

I nodded. "Thanks. Can I get up? I'd like a cup of tea."

A small frown creased his forehead. "Well, I wouldn't advise it, but I'm sure a quick trip to the lounge room won't kill you. I'll make the tea and bring it in."

He unhooked the transfusion, tucking it under his arm just in case, before offering me his hand. I took it with my uninjured arm and he slowly pulled me into a sitting position, then to my feet.

I stumbled slightly, still weak from the blood loss, but quickly straightened.

"Hey." He lifted my chin up so he could look at me. "I think it might be better for you to stay lying down." He frowned in concern. "You haven't had enough blood. You're still so pale."

"No. I can make it to the lounge." I whispered, although I did lean on him a tiny bit, keeping my right arm limp.

Roughly fifteen minutes later I was curled up on the sofa nursing a cup of tea, a random movie playing on the TV, leaning into the Doctor. He didn't complain, rather he wrapped his arm around me. Soon I felt myself growing drowsy, but I didn't care. I didn't notice the pain in my arm, or the uncomfortable light-headedness that seemed to hang over me like a cloud.

I was with the Doctor. My Doctor.

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**This isn't the end of this part. There's more to come, but the chapter would have been too long if I didn't cut it here. Hope you all enjoy it ^_^**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey all. I just wanted to put in this quick little note because I've been getting a lot of reviews from people who don't have accounts, so I can't respond to them personally. However, this is a little thank you to them, in order of when they reviewed:**

**E-man-dy-S, who reviewed Chapter 2 - Thanks a lot, I hope you continued reading ^_^**

**Zoe, who reviewed Chapters 9, 12 and 14 - You should seriously watch series 4! A lot of things will make more sense. Thanks for reviewing though! I hope the situation with Rose didn't upset you too much. There has been more fluff. Aw! Thanks for the support. And...hang on...Dramione? Really? And to answer your final question, roughly 35, maybe more XD.**

**gingerpond, who reviewed Chapter 11 - I know. I love cliffhangers *evil grin***

**WHY, who reviewed Chapter 17 - Same as gingerpond, because I like tormenting you all XD.**

**And finally:**

**GalaxyGirl, who reviewed Chapters 6, 12, 16, 18 and 24 - Thanks for your support and you're right, that's why I've mostly kept to what I wanted, but I also want to keep my fans happy ^_^. More chapters on the way!**

**Thanks to all of you and also everyone who has accounts. I've tried to respond to you all. If I haven't, thanks again! Keep reading!**


	27. Chapter 27

**This is a bit of a shorter chapter than the last few, but it continues directly from the previous one (the last story chapter, not the 'thank you' chapter). Hope all you Donna fans enjoy it, and all you non-Donna fans don't find it too annoying XD.**

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**Chapter 26: An Old Friend**

Five minutes later a strangely familiar creak echoed through the TARDIS to the lounge room. The Doctor and I, who had been half-asleep, looked around; it was the TARDIS door. We then looked at each other.

"Where are we?" I asked, confused, as no-one could get in without a key.

"I don't know. I randomised the coordinates." He replied, frowning.

All of a sudden he leapt up and ran into the console room. I followed, though slower so as to not bring on the dizziness again.

"What?" I heard him cry, before a voice responded. I couldn't quite work out the words, but I recognised the voice and the sassy tone.

"What?" he said again and I grinned as I entered the room. He turned to me and repeated, quieter, "What?"

Donna Noble stood in the room, key in hand, looking only a year or so older. She had an expression on her face that showed she absolutely loved knowing something the Doctor didn't…and that she clearly remembered everything.

"How…what…how…this is impossible!" he said, his voice going all squeaky at the end from confusion.

"Calm down, spaceman." Donna snapped, smiling. "I _told_ you not to trap my memories. I _begged _you not to, which reminds me." She approached and gave him a good old smack on the arm. "You deserve that."

"What for?" he snapped back.

"Doctor, stop getting all annoyed just because you don't understand and let the poor woman explain." I gasped, sitting down in one of the chairs as my shoulder ached.

It was then that Donna noticed me. "Oh, hello there. You must be his new companion. I'm Donna."

"I'm Talia. It's lovely to meet you. I know all about you and your travels with the Doctor. Quite literally, not just from the Doctor telling me." I replied as softly as I could.

"What do you mean, you know all about me?" she demanded. "Have you been following me?!"

"No, no, just…I'll tell you after you tell what happened." I raised my hands in defence.

She huffed, but turned back to the Doctor. "Well, I heard the noise of this thing outside. You landed in my front yard, by the way! I walked outside, curious and saw it. Then, just like that, bam! All the memories came flooding back!" she started sounding more and more like the DoctorDonna as she spoke. "Oh, it did hurt at first. I was knocked out for about half an hour, that's how long you've been here. But when I woke up, the pain was gone! And I still remembered! That's all it took! Just some time for this human mind to adjust to having yours inside it!"

There was a pause in which Donna stared triumphantly at the Doctor, and the Doctor stared with disbelief at Donna. Then he pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned, both smiling.

"Oh, Donna, Donna, Donna Noble! I've missed you!" he said and I couldn't help grinning myself. Donna; the Doctor's best friend.

Donna then faced me, her getting-down-to-business face on. "Right then, how about you then, eh? How do you know so much?"

"Go easy on her Donna." The Doctor warned, stepping over to me almost protectively, as though to shield me from her annoyance. "She's just been through a heck of a lot."

"Dragging more girls into danger, I see? Nothing's changed." She commented.

"Nope." I agreed. "Just a couple of Triceratops and a ripped open shoulder, common daily activities when travelling with the Doctor."

My aim was to make her laugh and let her know that I wasn't a threat, and it worked.

"Now, let's get things straight. I am not, nor have I ever, followed you. I'll start from the beginning, but it might be better if we returned to the lounge." I looked at the Doctor, who nodded, understanding. Once there, I continued. "You know that parallel world the Metacrisis and Rose got left in?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"That wasn't the only one. There are hundreds, thousands of others and…well…I'm from one." Her eyebrows raised. "_He_," I indicated the Doctor. "Was looking for a way to get back into that world and crash-landed into mine, literally. To cut a long story short, I saved his life, he saved mine and he invited me to come with him. The catch is, in my world, the Doctor and most of his adventures and companions, etcetera…are a tv show."

"A tv show?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Yep. It's called _Doctor Who_. I can prove it, I've got the DVDs in my room. I've seen a lot of your travels with him. Adipose, Pompeii, Ood, Sontarans, Agatha Christie, Hath, the Library, Midnight, that planet with the Chinatown and, of course, the whole DoctorDonna saga." I listed. "Same with Rose and Martha. I've even seen beyond what's happening now, through after he regenerates."

By the end, she was staring at me with her mouth open. "Ok, I thought that with his mind nothing would surprise me, but this is incredible! So what about your parents? And, sorry to ask you this, but how old are you, anyway?"

"The Doctor brought them to this world and set up a life for them. I'm 18, from Australia."

"You don't sound that Australian." She confessed.

I grinned. "Too much British tv and an English mum."

"Anyway," she looked at the Doctor, "Your companions are getting younger, mister!"

"Not my fault!" he raised his hands. "She latched on to me and I haven't been able to, or wanted to, get rid of her since." He started out joking, prompting an accusing look from me, but ended with a grin, taking my hand in his.

Donna eyed our linked hands with a raised eyebrow. "Well now, unless I'm seeing things, you've actually found someone to replace Rose. It's about time."

"Well…not exactly replacing…but…" he stumbled.

"Rose will always be special for the Doctor." I explained. "And I'm sure that he would tell me," I cast a meaningful look at him when I spoke, "if he truly wanted to get her back." He nodded and somehow I knew he was being honest. "But…I do…love him." I whispered the last words.

Donna smiled. "And from the way he looks at you, he does, too. Has he told you, yet?"

"Donna!" he protested.

"Believe it or not, he has." I said.

She mock gasped. "The Doctor actually said the three words of death!" she laughed. "Honestly Doctor. What's the age gap, 890 years?"

"Oi!" I shouted. "That doesn't mean anything!"

"Go on, tell her then, finish the story." The Doctor prompted, and felt like slapping my forehead at his poor attempt at changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"She may as well know everything. We don't want to be in a situation where you start glowing and she freaks at the wrong moment."

"Oh." I realised what he meant and so quickly explained about the encounter with the Mimisas and the consequent side-effects.

"So, you're like me?" she asked.

"Not quite." I clarified. "You got his mind and a bit of unconscious protection. I didn't get any smarter but I can consciously use the energy in various ways. I've done it twice so far; regenerated once and used it to destroy some aliens."

"It does have consequences, though, which is why she doesn't use it often. I'd prefer it if she didn't use it at all." The Doctor added.

"Why?" Donna asked.

"Because it drains her of normal energy as she uses it and, similarly with you, once the usage reaches a certain level her head starts to struggle. It's a very painful experience for her and one I don't like to watch."

I rolled my eyes. "It's saved both our lives. Anyway, isn't the regeneration thing cool?"

"Yeah! How did it happen?" Donna cried.

"Shot in the stomach once by a revenge-driven Sontaran. The energy saved me, healed me, but I remained the same."

"Except for the fact that you entered a coma for a month which I had no idea if you would come out of!" The Doctor put in.

I ignored that. "So, there are perks to being part Time-Lord."

It was the Doctor's turn to roll his eyes.

"Looks like she's got enough lip to keep you from missing me all that much." Donna commented with a laugh.

They continued talking, the conversation turning from me to what Donna had been up to and how long it had been. I paid attention at first, but soon my arm started throbbing again and my head felt light, reminding me that I still hadn't completed the transfusion.

I started to drift off towards sleep, listening to the Doctor and Donna recount their adventures with Agatha Christie. I smiled, glad the Doctor had gotten one of his old companions back.

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**Ok, not too long to go now before the Doctor regenerates. *sad look*. A few-chapter-long adventure with Donna, some Daleks and a mysterious friend, and then...you'll see! By the way...I'm going to be away for two weeks and I won't be able to update because after this, once again, I'm writing my chapters. I'm afraid I just won't get the time. I can still talk with everyone but not update for a while. I'm really, really sorry...but at least I didn't leave it on a cliffy!**


	28. Chapter 28

**I know, I know. It's been two long weeks. I've been too busy; away at an uncles, trying to do exams, etc, etc. I am so sorry. BUT I'm back now! Here's chapter 28! For a little while at least, I won't update as regularly as I used to, but I am writing whenever I get the chance so please, everyone be patient! And there's a few days between the last chapter and this one ^_^**

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**Chapter 27: Double Trouble**

I came to slowly. Cold, metal floor underneath. The rush of wind not directly hitting me but nearby. The sound of voices.

"Just drop them. Let the Onduits take care of them, if they survive the fall that is."

"What about him?"

"He's coming with us. The two are luggage, and they could cause problems."

"You're right. They're waking now. Now's the best time."

The memories came flooding back. Mum had called and said that some of my friends had disappeared from their homes. We followed the source, but found them all to be living at home like normal, until the Doctor noticed something on one of their properties that made him scoot us away from there very quickly. "Onduits." He stated. "Shapeshifters. They've replaced your friends." They were very dangerous, he had said, and had a mindless need to kill anything that invaded their territory without permission. Their goal for stealing my friends' identities? He didn't know. We had headed back to the TARDIS, but a teleport interrupted us and brought us onto a large helicopter. Its pilots were human servants of the Onduits and instantly attacked.

Everything after that was a blur. Clearly, I was knocked out, but I didn't feel injured in any way, nor did my head hurt.

I opened my eyes gingerly to see Donna slowly climbing to her feet and the two pilots, who had been talking, holding a semi-conscious Doctor gagged and in cuffs.

I followed Donna's example, standing with a brief glance to the ominously open door of the helicopter; the source of the wind. One of the pilots approached me.

"Now, you fuss, and you'll be thrown out. Unconscious." He warned in his thick Northern English accent. **(Think Christopher Eccleston's voice)**

I frowned, remembering the words that greeted me upon awakening. We were hovering directly above the Onduit property…and if we were dropped onto it…Besides any injuries, we would be there without permission. I mentally swore.

The Doctor seemed to regain awareness and stared from Donna, to me, to the pilot, eyes wide with horror. "No!" he screamed, the word heavily muffled by the gag.

"Keep him quiet!" the pilot near me snapped, and the other whacked the Doctor's side with a rather heavy looking club, making him collapse to the ground in pain.

I gasped in outrage, glaring at the pilot. Donna, her mouth usually non-stop, was wisely staying quiet.

"Out." He said, nudging me towards the open door.

I edged over, looking down carefully, aware that the pilot could push me if he wanted. Donna came next to me. I was glad we weren't afraid of heights, for we seemed to be about ten metres up, hovering above a sparse cluster of fairly short trees. Looking around, I could see the house way too close for comfort; within twenty metres. Looking down again, at the helicopter, I saw that we didn't have to jump; there was a pole curving from the side of the helicopter, around a propeller and down to fold underneath. Even that metre of difference would help.

I turned once to look back. The Doctor, still on the ground, was staring at me, trying to communicate one message; take care.

I nodded once at him, then at Donna, before leaning out and grabbing hold of the pole.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the pilot shouted, reaching out to grab my arm. I yelped as it almost made my hand slip.

"Leave them alone, if they think it'll help them." The other one said in an almost bored tone. "If they survive the fall, they won't survive the Onduits."

"Good point."

He released my arm, to my great relief. I continued, moving little over an inch at a time, to shimmy down the pole until I was hanging underneath the helicopter.

My heart felt like it was in my throat and my stomach twisted with fear as to what I was actually about to do. But the only thought in my mind was that it was either this or I, Donna or the Doctor would be killed.

I waited until she was next to me, the terror in her face mimicking mine.

"Ok!" I shouted above the noise of the propellers. "I'll go first, then you have to let go. Try to hit a tree!"

"I don't think a tree's going to do me much good!" she snapped back.

"It'll soften the fall so you don't hit the ground hard enough to break every bone in your body." I said, probably harsher than I'd intended due to nerves.

She nodded with a frown.

I began taking deep breaths, positioning so that I was above a tree and looking up at my hands gripping the rail. Then I let go.

The free fall was exhilarating. The landing…not so much.

I hit the first few branches and fell through them easily, before a larger branch left a harsh bruise on my back. My left arm hit a third and this time I felt something pull. Before the gasp had left my mouth I was dropped onto the ground underneath the tree.

Several seconds passed in which I could do nothing more than breath and admire the fact that I had survived. Then I heard a series of groans and huffs and Donna landed a few metres away. My instincts told me to get up and see if she was alright. A quick assessment of myself told me that I had several nasty bruises and my left wrist was sprained, but luckily nothing had broken.

I then turned and stumbled over to the heap that was Donna.

"Donna." I murmured, kneeling and shaking her shoulder. She stirred and looked around.

"You're alright?" she said in wonder.

"Yeah." I replied. "Sort of. You?"

She pulled a face and indicated her ankle; it was clearly sprained, maybe fractured. Swollen and red, I knew it would have been very painful and was impressed at how she hadn't yet cried out.

"Bit unfortunate, that." She muttered.

I nodded before looking around and spotting a nice solid stick that she could use as a crutch. Handing it to her and helping her to her feet, I realised that the noise of the helicopter had gone. Looking back towards the house, I noticed that we weren't very far away…too close.

"We should move further back into the forest." I turned and took a few half-hearted steps. "We're too exposed…"

But something seemed to stop me. I remembered the Doctor mentioning that my real friends would have to be close by in order for the Onduits to keep up their façade; something about needing their minds close to use their psychic energy. That could mean that my friends were in that house now, being held prisoner.

"What is it?" Donna asked, no doubt noticing the faraway look in my eyes.

I explained my thoughts. "I can't just walk away. What if the Doctor can't break free?"

"He will."

But I noticed the doubt in her voice. She, too, looked towards the house.

"I can fly the TARDIS, remember?" She murmured. "We could go and rescue the Doctor. But…"

"But you're thinking that you'd like to be able to do something on your own and not always need the Doctor around." I guessed. "I know the feeling." Briefly, I told her about getting sucked into another world.

"Wow." She said, impressed. Then she frowned. "You're right, though. That is how I feel. It's like…I've got all his intelligence now, I wanna actually use it and not always be the companion that's the damsel in distress."

I grinned at her. "Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go rescue my friends!"

She grinned back, albeit a bit more hesitantly. We started creeping towards the house, hiding in the shadows of trees and keeping low and out of direct sight from the windows. Donna struggled on her sprained leg, but not as much as I would have expected; maybe she also got a tiny bit of the Doctor's healing ability. If I knew how, I would have healed her…but I still wasn't sure about just using the Time Lord energy.

We hid out of sight from one of the open windows and listened to see if we could hear anything useful.

"…amazing how we blended so easily into society."

That was the voice of their mother, Rachel.

"I know. The humans do not suspect. Reports indicate that it is the same with all other operations." A younger voice responded, who I recognised as Lucy.

"It's so exciting!" cried a third voice; Julia. "Humans are so fun to be!"

Donna and I shared a look that said, _I'm sure they are._

She mouthed, "Is there anywhere you can think of?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah. The laundry, follow me."

I crept around the back of the house, still making sure to keep out of sight, and towards the laundry room. As expected, it was open; the fake Rachel must have adopted the real one's habits.

I remembered there being a larger-than-anyone-could-need linen cupboard. Spotting it, I realised now that there were muffled noises coming from in there.

Donna had heard before me and was already working on pulling the door open. It appeared that it had been jammed shut with some sort of alien glue. I added my weight, but we still couldn't get it open until Donna had the sense to grab an iron and melt the glue.

When we finally got it open, a series of muffled but loud cries came from the three people inside. Donna and I shushed them hurriedly.

"Yes, it's me. This is a friend." I indicated Donna. "We're going to help you."

I again realised how incredible it was that, in the Doctor's universe, I was still friends with Lucy and Julia. Parallel worlds really aren't that different.

"I'm going to ungag you." Donna said gently. "But you can't make a noise."

They nodded, then both girls threw their arms around me and thanked me in hushed whispers while Rachel, although thanking me as well, was looking around nervously.

"What are they?" she muttered.

"I'll explain everything when we're out." I replied.

Then I heard something that chilled me to the bone.

"There's someone here. Intruders!"

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**I'm not nice, am I? To leave you on a cliffy with no solid answer as to when I'll update again...**

**Argetaie , I am waiting for the 'monkey' comment XD**


	29. Chapter 29

**Ok, on a request from Argetaie, this chapter is a bit longer than usual. Not all chapters from now on will be, but I sort of got carried away with this one. I've tried something different about half way through. If you like it, I might do it again ^_^ Enjoy! And thanks to everyone (including GalaxyGirl) for reviewing and following! Oh! And a shout-out to my friend (you know who you are) who decided to read my fanfic and tells me he has really enjoyed it. Hope you like this one too!**

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**Chapter 28: A Rescue Operation**

The voice certainly didn't sound like one of my friends or their mother. It sounded rather like the screech of a feral animal. Donna and I shared an anxious look, then yelled at the same time, "Run!"

The five of us headed back outside, where Donna started leading us in the direction of the road, where we could get back to the TARDIS. I was relieved that no-one asked any questions. Some more, unintelligible screeches from behind us made me turn.

The creatures chasing us were obviously what the Onduits normally looked like; human-sized pangolins. **(if you don't know what they are, look it up, they're cool!) **Well, human-sized pangolins with a few extra teeth and claws…and scales that looked very much like metal.

"Intruders!" One screamed. "Kill the intruders! Reclaim the prisoners!"

Turning back and running again, I started to feel real panic. Donna, though she was trying to hide it, was badly limping on her bad ankle. Lucy and Julia appeared to be in shock as they constantly had to be urged onwards.

Oh, and let's not forget the guns.

A bright purple laser flew past my head just inches from frying my ear off. We still couldn't see the road. Julia cried out, but when I looked I saw that she had only tripped and was being dragged back to her feet by her mother.

The Onduits were shockingly fast, only a few metres away now. One lunged forwards and grabbed my arm, almost pulling it out of its socket.

I was yanked onto my back. Winded, I couldn't bring myself to move as the dark barrel of the gun hovered a foot above my head. A purple light glowed dimly and I suddenly realised that I was about to die. My mind was blank of anything intelligible; no 'life flashing before my eyes', no 'last-minute regrets or promises'.

Then something ginger slammed into the Onduit, knocking it away from me and allowing the laser to blast harmlessly into the grass.

Donna had come to my rescue. She pulled me to my feet again and we continued running.

"Not bad for a human with a Time Lord brain!" I shouted over the screams of the Onduits as they continued their pursuit.

She grinned back. "Good old human gut instinct!"

The road was within view now, to my immense relief, and I knew that the TARDIS was only a couple of hundred metres up that road. If we could only make it that far.

Someone screamed.

Lucy, the younger sister at fifteen, was down. Her arm was badly burned from the laser, as well as part of her side. Crying and whimpering, she lay there on the grass. I dashed to her side, next to Rachel. We picked her up between us and carried her, trying to move as fast as possible, all the while murmuring reassurances.

But it was hopeless. The Onduits had recovered quickly from Donna's sneak attack and were gaining easily again…and with each metre they gained, their accuracy improved.

"Right, Donna, now time to actually use the Time Lord part of that head." I cried.

She looked back at me, desperation showing on her face. "Honestly, I've got nothing! The Onduits don't have any weaknesses that we can exploit now. And anyway, I think the intelligence is slowly fading."

"You're telling me that now!" I demanded.

She had the grace to look shamed.

I guessed it was up to me.

I tried to remember what I had done back in the pocket universe. It had been a moment of greatest need…well, I needed it now. I closed my eyes as I ran, which created an oddly surreal feeling, and felt again the Time Lord energy that existed somewhere within me.

The instant I touched it, mentally, it embraced me. It filled me so fast that only a gasp could escape my lips before I was seeing everything tinted with gold. I stopped. So did everyone else, even the Onduits, who were clearly just as shocked.

I wasn't even going to try and control it. The experience in the pocket universe was nothing, _nothing_, compared to now. Now, the energy was back in its own universe, and it controlled me, filling me with both an overwhelming giddy joy and a harsh aching in my head as my human brain protested.

It burst outwards in waves, harshly blasting the Onduits backwards and leaving a circle of burned grass around me. Luckily, it was harmless to Donna and the others. However, I could feel it draining my strength…yet I couldn't force it back now that the Onduits had been knocked out.

Turning, I continued to run in the direction of the TARDIS, which I could now see. Donna came up next to me, still limping but obviously not noticing the pain.

"Talia, you've got to stop. It'll burn you up eventually." She said urgently.

"I…can't." I gasped, looking down at the waves of golden dust radiating around my body.

She frowned, but we reached the TARDIS quicker than I deemed possible. Once everyone was inside, I bent down and placed my hand on Donna's ankle. It was almost instinctual; the energy was there now, and my mind wasn't capable of letting it go until it had accomplished everything it could.

To Rachel, Julia and Lucy's amazement, the swelling and redness on the ankle faded in seconds. Donna hissed in surprise.

"You shouldn't be able to do that. You've got to stop!" she cried.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt miffed that she didn't even thank me. Ignoring her comment, as there was nothing I could do anyway, I turned and healed Lucy's burns while instructing Donna to get us to the Doctor.

She obeyed, going and punching in the coordinates to lock on to the Doctor. I couldn't help but notice the worried glances she kept throwing in my direction. My friends and their mum were silent; the 'bigger on the inside comment' hadn't even been said yet. The energy still controlling me, I mentally told the TARDIS to help them to some spare rooms, which she did.

The trip only took about a minute. The rough landing didn't faze me and I threw the doors open without even bothering to be cautious; in the state I was now, any Onduit who tried to get in my way would be vaporised.

Even if the intelligence of the Doctor's mind was fading, Donna was still an excellent TARDIS pilot. I noticed immediately that we had landed in some sort of large hall, and that the Doctor was standing in front of what I assumed to be their leader. His hands were chained and there was a nasty bruise on the side of his face, but other than that he seemed fine, paused in an animated discussion with the Onduit leader. Well, he had been talking, the Onduit had been glaring menacingly.

**(I've decided to do something different and write from the Doctor's pov, second-person)**

The Doctor turned around and spotted Talia and the TARDIS. Amazement and admiration filled him, followed by an overwhelming concern when he realised that Talia was glowing gold, her eyes no longer brown. He knew instantly that she was under the influence of Time Lord energy, and it was very dangerous.

"Talia, what have you done?" he croaked, his voice breaking.

"Rescue." She muttered. Then she raised her voice, and the Doctor heard the power and authority in it, like how he addressed crowds of species. "You all will let the Doctor and any humans you have captured go, or else I will destroy every last Onduit in this room."

The Doctor just stared at her; he knew she couldn't control the energy…but surely she wouldn't kill twenty Onduits, would she? A murmur of laughter met her words and the leader spoke.

"You are nothing more than a human, girl! We are not scared of you."

In response, her eyes flashed completely gold for a split second, even the whites, and a beam of light flew from her to one of the Onduit guards on the walls. He collapsed. The Doctor glanced at him, hoping he wasn't dead, but noticed with relief that he still breathed. He also noticed Talia look towards him with the same expression of hope, and felt a smidgen of relief.

The leader's eyes flashed. "You would be silly to do what you are threatening. Guards!"

As one, the twenty or so remaining Onduits all pointed their weapons at Talia. As one, they fired, but the Doctor saw the coating of energy around her body expand to create a sort of shield. The Doctor felt the worry gnaw at both his hearts as he watched her, noticing the tiny wince. He knew that the pain of having so much energy rushing through her would be building and just hoped that they could all get back in the TARDIS quickly so he could help her regain control…and that it wasn't already too late.

"Talia, I'm glad you're not getting hurt, but please! You have to try and control it! It'll kill you! I never wanted you to use the energy." He cried out to her, desperately trying to make her understand. Donna stood next to her, also urging her to release the energy.

She lifted her head to look him right in the face and he felt a shiver run down his spine; was this how he looked when angry? The pain of hundreds of years, a sense of such strong justice showed in her eyes; something a young human should never have inside their head.

When she spoke, her words were directed at the leader. "Let. Everyone. Go!"

The Doctor turned to look back at the Onduit king. For the first time, he looked nervous and the Doctor was relieved; the quicker he gave in, the quicker they could get out of there.

"Alright, fine!" he grumbled. "Baen! Release the prisoner and bring back all Onduits from Earth, making sure they are ordered to release the humans first."

Smiling grimly, the Doctor realised that the king at least cared enough about his people to want to protect them. The Doctor was even scared as to what Talia might do. He had never seen her like this, and he was more terrified of what she was capable of than the guns that had been pointed in his face earlier. He knew, of course, that she was doing nothing willingly. That made it all the more nerve-wracking.

Baen, one of the high commanding Onduits, came and un-cuffed him and the instant he was free, he ran over to Talia, taking her face gently in his hands and staring fiercely into her eyes.

"Alright, I'm free now. Everything's ok. Now, you have to let the energy go." He whispered. He wanted to pull her into a hug and congratulate her on her rescue, but he needed to make sure she would be okay first.

She blinked and for the first time he saw a hint of brown return to her eyes. It was only enough to show the pain she was feeling, however.

"I can't." she whimpered, an edge of panic now into her voice. "It hurts, Doctor."

She stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut as a fresh wave of the energy surged through her. The Doctor felt his hearts ache; he hated seeing her in pain. Moving his fingers up to his temples, he prepared to reach into her mind.

"I'm going to help you. Just relax. Breathe."

It took a few seconds, but she did so, although she still shook slightly. He delved into her mind, absorbing as much of the energy as he knew was safe for him to do so, then combining his will with his to force the rest of it back into that corner of her mind where it should have always stayed. The process took several minutes and every few seconds she would gasp in pain as the energy struggled to return.

"It's alright, Talia. Keep on going. Come on!" he murmured constantly.

When the last bit of golden light disappeared from her eyes, he released her head. She swayed on her feet for a second, before collapsing forwards against him.

He gripped her shoulders and stood her upright again. She was still conscious, but pale and feverish-looking.

"Doctor." She breathed.

A wave of relief filled him upon hearing her voice back to normal again. He gave a small smile and kissed her forehead gently. "Yes, it's me. Everything's okay, now."

She smiled back, albeit much more weakly, before collapsing outright.

Donna spoke for the first time in several minutes. "Is she going to be okay?"

He nodded, scooping her into his arms. "Yeah. She needs rest and a good cup of tea, but she'll be fine." He turned and grinned at her. "Thanks for the rescue, by the way, Earth girl."

She grinned back, looking up at him. "It's the girl in your arms you should be thanking. I was just the pilot."

He rolled his eyes and was about to comment otherwise, when the voice of the Onduit king sounded behind him.

"I'd get out of here if I were you, Doctor. Your pet human may have scared us, but my patience won't last long. We will leave this planet for now, but I will change my mind if you do not get off my ship in thirty seconds!"

Nodding grimly, the Doctor hurried back into the TARDIS. Now that he was inside, he lay Talia down on one of the chairs and set their course back to Earth.

"I could have done that! She needs to lay down on her bed, not a pilot chair!" Donna snapped.

The Doctor turned and mock-glared at her. "My TARDIS. My rules."

Donna rolled her eyes, but grinned. "I'll go and drop her friends off, then."

But the Doctor didn't hear her. He was looking at Talia and remembering the power that had coursed through her. It was terrifying, and awe-inspiring at the same time…but he preferred her as a simple human. _His_ simple human.

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**whovianpower...don't kill me. I have to add some fluff! And a warning to you and any others who aren't huge fans of Talia and the Doctor's relationship: next chapter will be all fluff, so if you want to skip it until the end (when something is needed to be read), I won't be offended ^_^**


	30. Chapter 30

**Before talking about this chapter, I just want to give a shout-out to all of my family who have been reading this story. Thank you again to all of you! And they're not even fans! For all readers who have been enjoying the action, it's time to take a break and just have some sweet fun fluff ^_^**

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**Chapter 29: Chocolate Cake**

I awoke on my bed with a slight headache and a sudden, strange craving for chocolate cake. For a serious moment I considered going back to sleep; I was unbelievably tired. But then a strong desire to see the Doctor arose, so I got up and got changed.

I remembered everything, including how scared I was when I realised I couldn't force the energy back down. The Doctor had helped me, however. The memory of his mind in mine comforted me greatly and I smiled as I headed out to the console room.

He was there, as expected, working on something that I would bet his screwdriver on didn't need fixing. He looked up as I entered and a grin lit up his face, prompting one from me. So much had been going on lately that I had almost forgotten how much I loved him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he pulled me into a warm hug. Not for the first time, I marvelled at just _how_ warm his hugs were…considering how skinny he was…which didn't bother me at all.

"Fine, now. Although, I've got a craving for chocolate cake." I informed him. He chuckled, but got a glint in his eye.

"Alright, then. How about we take a break from adventure today and go and make one!" he cried enthusiastically.

"What about Donna?" I asked as he grabbed my hand and started pulling me in the direction of the kitchen.

"Aw, she'll be fine! She's in her room, doing something or other!"

I laughed at his nonchalance, but didn't really care.

Once we reached the kitchen he released my hand and started frantically rummaging in cupboards for a recipe book. Finding what he wanted, with a loud cry of "A-ha!", he dropped a surprisingly large volume onto the bench and flicked through the pages.

"Here we go! Traditional Gallifreyan Chocolate Cake, with essence of Shimerna and icing made from the butter of Time Cows!"

I stared at him, struggling not to laugh again.

"Doctor…just a normal, standard Earth chocolate cake, please."

He frowned and said loudly in his most whinging voice, "Aw! But the essence of Shimerna gives it the most incredible flavour that I can't even describe to you and Time Cow butter is so much better than Earth cow butter!"

I stared at him, trying to appear determined. "Normal cake. No exceptions."

He made a face, but flicked the book to a page with ingredients I actually recognised. We hurried around getting all the ingredients and I set him to mixing the butter and sugar together, then the flour, while I organised myself to grease a cake tin.

Just before letting him go, I asked, "Doctor, have you ever actually baked a cake before? Successfully?"

"Of course I have! 900 years old, and you think I've never baked! Honestly…"

I raised an eyebrow at him, which he responded to and I fought back a giggle. Shaking my head, I turned back to the cake tin. A few minutes later, I looked over at him.

And burst into a fit of laughter.

His blue suit was positively _covered_ in flour and sugar, so much so that I wondered how much was actually in the bowl. It was then that I realised he had been using an electric mixer…but obviously didn't know how to.

"D-Doctor." I gasped, clutching my side as he turned and gave me a look that was half-annoyed, half-pleading for help. "W-What did you d-do?"

"Stupid – Earth – electric – blender!" he punctuated each word by turning the mixer off and, rather roughly, pulling out the beaters.

Still chuckling, I gently put the mixer far out of his reach and handed him a normal spoon and whisk instead. I went to show him how to mix without making such a mess, but he protested loudly ("I'm 900 years old, Talia, I'm not a child!").

So, rolling my eyes, I finished greasing the cake tin. When I noticed him reaching for the eggs, however, I knew I had to act.

"Ah, ah, ah, let me do that."

The look on his face was priceless. He hadn't made any attempt to de-flour himself and I didn't want him covered in egg next. I stood on tiptoes to gently kiss him on the cheek, before instructing him to get the ingredients for the icing.

"Can we put essence of Shimerna in that?" he asked eagerly.

"No."

"Time Cow butter?"

"No."

"Bananas?"

This time he gave me such a puppy-dog pleading look that I caved.

"Fine! Mash some bananas – with a _fork_ not a blender – and mix it into the icing."

His look of joy made a funny feeling bubble up inside me, something that, as I'd thought earlier, I hadn't felt in a while due to all the seriousness.

Finally, the cake mixture was ready and I poured it into the tin and into the preheated oven. I was glad the TARDIS had provided everything a normal Earth kitchen would have. I had added extra cocoa and a touch of vanilla essence to the cake, so hopefully it would come out nicely.

I was amazed when I looked over at the Doctor and saw that he hadn't made a mess this time. His tongue stuck out in concentration as he mashed the bananas; a look that was oh too cute.

He noticed me watching him and grinned up at me. "Almost done!" He announced with pride.

I didn't respond. My thoughts had wandered elsewhere; my eyes were roaming around his face, taking in his _gorgeous _hair, his wonderful brown eyes…How could a Time Lord, this Time Lord, love me?

As if sensing my thoughts, he dropped the spoon and approached, taking one of my hands in both of his.

"Talia, while the cake bakes, there's something I would like to talk to you about." He gently lead me over to the table, where we sat down next to each other.

"Sure, what is it?" I tried to sound normal…but my insides were shaking with nerves: what if his feelings had changed?

He looked down before staring directly into my eyes, capturing my undivided attention. "I know I keep mentioning it, but I'm nine hundred years old, and a Time Lord."

I searched his face, panicking now. My heart was hammering against my chest.

"But, you must never forget, many billions of years ago, the Time Lords were just like humans. Just as much emotional creatures as you lot are. It's only through the many wars and an abuse of power that they…we…grew to be so stoic." He continued, the words being what I knew to be true but still carving wounds into my heart. "Somewhere, deep inside, I know that part of my species still exists. I haven't been fair to you, Talia, and it's time I confessed something."

I felt tears build up now, but struggled to prevent them falling. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't!

His eyes softened and at his next words tears did fall…but they were happy tears. "I have been trying to be too…disconnected from you, Talia. But no more. I love you with both of my hearts and, by Gallifrey, from now on I'm going to make sure you know that!"

And he stood up, pulled me to my feet and into a gentle but passionate kiss. At first I was too shocked to respond, but then I let myself kiss him back. My hands snaked around the back of his neck and into his hair. His pushed gently on the small of my back, pulling me closer.

All coherent thought completely vanished from my mind. I was in heaven. Completely oblivious to anything and everything around me.

Until a rather embarrassed and amused sounding voice said, really slowly, "Right…Well, I was going to talk to you two but I think I'll come back later."

We broke apart. Between my heart feeling like it was about to burst out of my chest, my face feeling like a sidewalk on a hot day, and my head that was still spinning…I couldn't remember ever feeling more embarrassed or elated as I looked at Donna, who was standing in the doorway, arms folded, eyebrows raised.

No tact. No tact at all.

The Doctor, looking quite as flushed as I did, scratched the back of his neck nervously and stuttered, "W-well…sorry, Donna…we were…um…just…"

Donna sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, stop being such a twat! I should've expected to come across something like this sooner or later…is that chocolate cake I can smell?"

The Doctor and I turned to the oven at the exact same time, where I could see the cake was rising nicely.

"Yes." We both said.

"Nice! Well, don't just stand there, you two lovebirds, I'll leave you to get back to…whatever it was you were doing!" she was clearly struggling not to laugh, which only increased our embarrassment.

She strolled away from the kitchen. The Doctor and I turned to each other and slowly smiled.

"Well, I have to say I wasn't expecting that." I murmured quietly.

"I felt like you deserved it, after all you've done. As I said, I've been trying to be too alien. There is a part of me, a small part, that is very human. I don't show it just to anyone, but I felt like I should let you see it. Especially considering that you've…what?...saved me three times by now? That's usually my job!"

I grinned, kissing him quickly again before turning back to the icing. "Come on! We've got to get this finished!"

Roughly fifteen minutes later, the cake was out of the oven and iced. I stuck my head out the kitchen door.

"Donna! Cake!" I called.

Her sarcastic but friendly voice echoed back. "You two stopped snogging yet?"

"Yes!" I gasped exasperatedly.

Grinning, she appeared from just a few doors down – the library.

"That smells brilliant!" she said as she entered the kitchen. But then hesitated, "Hold on, that's not some alien cake is it? I know you, Doctor."

I gave the Doctor a look that said _I told you, we all love normal chocolate cake_. "No, I made sure he didn't put anything weird into it. The most deviate ingredient are the bananas in the icing."

Donna chuckled before helping herself to a slice. The Doctor and I followed her. Even I was impressed at the taste of the cake. It was perfect; not too dry, not too strong. Everything was just the right amount. I had a feeling the TARDIS may have had something to do with that.

"Anyway," Donna began after a few minutes. "The reason why I wanted to talk to you earlier is because I've been thinking; of course I've missed this, the aliens, the time travel, the running…but now it's different."

"Different how?" The Doctor asked around a mouthful of cake. I shot him an exasperated look.

Donna smiled sadly at us. "I'm married now. I have a child. A family. I know you can get me back to within a few minutes of when I left…as long as you pilot the TARDIS right…but I don't want to be away from them. It'll feel like long for me and I will always miss them. So…except for maybe a trip here and there, I might go back home."

"Oh." The Doctor said, frowning. "Right. Ok, well if that's what you want."

I felt bad for him – now the second time losing Donna – but at the same time I understood what she was saying. I missed my parents so much, as much as I loved everything else. In fact, I was even thinking of going back home for a few days or so…but right now I didn't want the Doctor to be left alone.

Donna reached out and gripped his hand. "I'll still be there, Doctor. You and Talia pop round for tea whenever you want!"

That brought a small smile to his face. "Alright. If it'll make you happy Donna, consider it done!"

* * *

**Hope most of that made you smile! And, sorry, but Donna had to go...it would have gotten awkward come regeneration time and her DoctorDonna thing was going to be too confusing. Although, she might pop up in the sequel...don't know when. No clues about the next chapter this time except this: It's not the regeneration yet.**


	31. Chapter 31

**There will be no spoilers in this note, first and foremost. However, I have just seen Deep Breath in cinemas (yes, in Australia, we had to wait and see it on Sunday). I shan't say a word for the many I know who haven't seen it yet...but for those who have, I'd love to discuss it via PMs! What did you think of Capaldi? What did you think of the story? Etc. **

**All those waiting for the episode: Enjoy! Oh! And his catchphrase isn't 'kidneys!' LOL!**


	32. Chapter 32

**I am so sorry that it has been so long between updates. I have just had so much going on in my life at the moment, from moving house, to school stuff, etc. Plus, my birthday is coming up next Saturday ^_^ Yay! 18 at last! Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll try not to leave a huge break between this and the next one! Thanks again to all my supporters/fans/followers, etc. Including family and friends!**

* * *

**Chapter 30: Familiar Faces and Familiar Voices**

"What did you land us here for?" I demanded, glaring at the Doctor with fake annoyance.

We had just dropped Donna off home and the Doctor decided to take me somewhere…special. Which, by his definition, was a boring old antique market that held no excitement, value or anything interesting at all except that all the buyers were aliens.

"It's…it's the most famous market…in Shambol 1. People will pay lots to get here." He said defensively, pointing vaguely at the open doors of the TARDIS.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not really fussed on a market. I'd rather you take me to a beach where the sand is pink, or a planet where a unique creature can be found…or…" He interrupted me.

"Well, I didn't say this place _only_ has a market, did I?" he gave me a grin. "There's more outside those doors than their appearance."

Suddenly a woman came barging in from the side, turned, and slammed the door shut, all the while muttering half-furiously, half-fondly.

"I would love to know what you moved it for, sweetie? You usually park it right in front of…me…"

She trailed off, having turned around and realised which TARDIS she was in.

The Doctor stared at her in utter bewilderment. "What? R-River…how can you…you –"

"Shh!" I hissed urgently, knowing that he was just about to tell her she died. "Just let me do the talking. I'll explain more in a moment."

River wasn't paying any attention to this. Her face had lit up in her usual large and flirtatious grin. "Doctor! Well, I would recognise that face anywhere but I must say, hair's a bit much, don't you think? I don't believe I've seen you like this before though, of course, I knew what you would look like. Oh! And Talia! How wonderful to see you again! Actually, have we met yet?"

She prattled on so fast that she rivalled the man standing next to me who, currently and unbelievably, was lost for words.

I quickly stepped forward, smiling gently at River. "We haven't met yet, you and I…but as you must know, I am aware of exactly who you are. The Doctor..._this_ Doctor…has met you once before but it's something you haven't done yet."

"What?" The Doctor asked me, now looking the absolute pinnacle of confused.

"I must apologise, then." River said, without sounding like an apology at all. "You see, I'm here with a future version of you." She addressed these words to the Doctor. "Well, at least I thought I was. I was under the impression that, like always, he knew when I was in trouble and parked ready for me. Obviously not…"

"What were you running from?" I asked her, painfully aware of the looks the Doctor was giving me to explain.

She looked up at me as though it should have been obvious. "Daleks, of course. Surely you heard them? They're after you."

The Doctor was now getting annoyed, as he usually did when he didn't know something. I supressed a chuckle and said to River, "Just let me explain this to the Doctor as briefly as possible, with no spoilers."

"How can she be here?" he asked instantly, wide eyed and clearly trying to work it out before I told him.

"This is before the library." I said quietly, hoping that River didn't have Time Lord hearing. "She is a very important person from your future, but you meet in a backwards order. The first time you saw her was the last time she saw you. I don't know how far, but this, for her, is happening before the library. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand, but is that all you can tell me?"

"For now, it's not just all I can tell you, it's all you can know." I looked directly at him, hoping he understood and could quell his desire for knowledge.

With a frown, he nodded, although he looked disappointed.

"Right then, River." He addressed her properly for the first time. "Let's go meet those Daleks."

I stared at him, about to ask why on Earth we would do that, but he had already zoomed towards the doors and opened them, flooding the TARDIS with light.

The screams of "IT IS THE DOCTOR!" drowned out anything he said to the assembly of about ten Daleks waiting at the doors. He put his hands up and indicated for River and I to follow him. Sharing exasperated looks, we did.

The Daleks obviously didn't want to shoot the Doctor, or us, or they would have done so a million times. We quickly became surrounded as the Daleks formed a circle around us.

"YOU ARE THE DOCTOR AND COMPANIONS. YOU WILL COME WITH US." One said.

"And why, might I ask, would we do that?" The Doctor's voice was as light as always with not a trace of fear, but some confusion.

"THERE IS ONE AMONG US WHO POSSESSES GREAT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE DOCTOR. YOU ARE TO MEET THEM."

"Why not just kill me now, eh?" the Doctor asked.

_Don't tempt them_, I thought, looking nervously from the Doctor to River. In the series, Daleks weren't all that scary…but in the real world, when surrounded by ten of them and when you know that one wrong move and you are dead…yeah, Daleks are scary.

"THE ONE WE SPEAK OF HAS TRAVELLED IN TIME MUCH LIKE YOU, DOCTOR. THEY HAVE QUESTIONS FOR YOU."

"A Dalek? With questions for me?" to my…well, not my surprise but my annoyance, the Doctor started laughing. "I am not coming with you to participate in a quiz. Did enough of that back in school for my first hundred years, thank you very much."

River hadn't said anything so far, but it was at this moment that she spoke up. "Sweetie, I think it might just be best if we follow them. For now."

He frowned at her. "Just because I know who you are…sort of…doesn't mean I have to listen to you."

"Oh yes you do!"

"SILENCE!" screamed a Dalek, stopping the building row between the two. In a different situation I would have laughed, knowing what the true story is about the Doctor and River. **(Yes, B, that is put in there just to taunt you)**

"YOU WILL FOLLOW!" another demanded.

I looked at the Doctor, who looked back at the TARDIS.

"Talia, would you lock up the TARDIS, please, I don't want anyone sneaking inside."

"Sure." I said, walking over to the TARDIS. Surprisingly, the Daleks let me pass. I supposed their no-killing-yet policy was still in place. I locked the TARDIS door, but as I went to pull the key out I realised that it was stuck. A faint buzzing sound met my ears and I looked back to see the Doctor pointing his sonic screwdriver at me and the blue box.

Horror-struck, I released the key just in time as it and the TARDIS vanished. It would have taken me with it.

Now ignoring the Daleks, I marched over to the Doctor – taking a brief notice of River's approving look in my direction – and smacked him as hard as I could on the arm.

"How dare you?" I yelled. I had a funny feeling the Daleks were watching with whatever they felt in place of amusement. "You've done it to Rose, to Donna, to people in your future, and you tried to do it to me!"

"Of course I did!" he replied fiercely, but with a lower volume than my outburst. "We don't know what they're planning or what they want to ask me. What if they decide to kill you on the way?"

"If they do, they do." I snapped. "I'm not leaving your side. Why didn't you try it with River?"

He gave me a look that said that I should know the answer to that question. I did, but it did nothing to soften my anger. I huffed and turned away.

"ARE YOUR COMPANIONS IN CHECK, DOCTOR?" one Dalek asked. Yep, I was right, some sick form of amusement.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Just lead the way."

That proved to be unnecessary more than five feet, where a teleport took hold of us and, to use the Star Trek cliché, beamed us up to the Dalek ship.

Even though the likelihood of us getting out of here alive was slim, I couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of the ship and also wonder how creatures with no arms managed to build it in the first place. Everything was tinted bronze and our faces reflected in thousands of round protrusions akin to the ones on the Daleks themselves.

Four Daleks positioned themselves behind us, one on either side and the other four in front. No chance of escaping, then. The three of us followed the Daleks, who remained silent.

"Any idea why we haven't been killed yet?" I asked the Doctor as quietly as I could.

"Not the slightest, but I am curious to meet this one that knows about me." He replied.

"THERE WILL BE NO TALKING!" the Dalek in front of me snapped. River, I noticed, had her hand on her gun, something the Doctor was also aware of and I watched as he shook his head at her. She frowned at him, but removed her hand.

We were being led through a long golden corridor and I felt the level of tension increase. What was the reason for this all-knowing Dalek to want to speak to the Doctor…Daleks hardly ever were merely curious.

But they also were not stupid, I reminded myself. That didn't help me work out what was going on.

And how was River suddenly here? I mean, I knew she popped up anywhere but here was quite a coincidence. Unless the Daleks brought her here somehow to follow her to the Doctor…

I looked up from my thoughts and saw a huge iron door blocking the way. One of the Daleks went over to what looked like a microphone with a place for its plunger-thing underneath. It placed the plunger over the area and said, "ENTRY IS NEEDED. THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN AQUIRED."

The door slid open with much hissing and grinding, as though it hadn't been opened many times. For a moment, all I could see was light, but then my eyes got used to it and I saw that the room contained twelve Dalek guards and, at the far end, one pale blue Dalek. I had never seen a pale blue one before.

"THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANIONS WILL APPROACH!" the one at the end called out, and the four Daleks in front of us shifted away. I frowned up at the blue Dalek; something about the voice seemed off.

The Doctor shared looks with River and I before staring determinedly ahead. "Come on." He said shortly, before striding far more confidently than I suspected he felt towards the blue Dalek. River and I hurried to keep up with his long strides. Almost subconsciously, I grabbed his hand for reassurance.

"IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME, DOCTOR." The blue Dalek said.

"We've never met. I think I'd remember one with your colouring." The Doctor's voice was filled with the dry hate it usually had when addressing Daleks. I didn't like it.

"OH, BUT WE HAVE." The Dalek said almost gleefully. "YOU SEE, DOCTOR, I HAVE TRAVELLED THROUGH TIME MYSELF, THROUGH AN EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT. I ESCAPED YOUR GENOCIDE AFTER OUR PLAN TO DESTROY REALITY FAILED. BUT, YOU SEE, I DIDN'T START OUT AS A MEMBER OF THE INVADING FORCE."

The voice was really getting to me now. There was an undertone of something I recognised.

"Who were you, then? A rebel? A Dalek traitor?" the Doctor demanded.

"DALEKS DON'T HAVE TRAITORS!" it screamed. "NO, NO. I WILL TELL YOU WHO I AM AND THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY I AM SO EAGRE FOR US TO MEET AGAIN."

"Well? Who are you?" the Doctor pressed when it fell silent again.

If it had a mouth, I had a feeling it would have been grinning evilly. "HARRIET JONES, FORMER HUMAN."

* * *

**The credit for that last part goes to my mum, who loved Harriet Jones' character and suggested that I bring her back into it. Let me know what you think in reviews!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey everyone. First things first: I know at the beginning of this story I said this was between Planet of the Dead and Waters of Mars for the Doctor...can we ignore that, please? I'm making it after Mars instead. Secondly, the mysterious 'B' that I've mentioned is a really good friend of mine (who will appear in the sequel: spoilers!) who was at my place last night and quite literally ****_watched _****me write this chapter. He wanted you all to know that he read it before anyone else...I know...ego much? Lol, just kidding. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter 31: A Fateful Time**

For the first time, no-one could reply with, "Yes, we know who you are."

Gasps came from the Doctor's and my mouths at this revelation. River stared at the blue Dalek.

"Isn't that an old Prime Minister?" she said.

I started to explain, but the Doctor got there before me. "We were acquaintances. She did wrong and so I deposed her from her position, but she died sacrificing herself for our cause the last time the Daleks invaded, or so I thought."

"B-but, she did die!" I cried, visualising the scene perfectly. "The Daleks killed her!"

"I DID NOT DIE." Harriet/Dalek replied. "THE DALEKS PRESERVED MY BODY AND GAVE ME A NEW SHELL AND A NEW MIND, ONE THAT IS PURE AND EVER SO DALEK."

"Why?" The Doctor demanded. "Why turn you into a Dalek? I didn't even know it was possible."

"I did." I said quietly, prompting him to stare at me in surprise. "Spoilers." I muttered, thinking of Oswin Oswald. **(Spoilers, B. I love taunting you!)**

"I HAD KNOWLEDGE OF YOU, DOCTOR. THAT MADE MY FEEBLE HUMAN MIND VALUABLE. NOW I AM SO MUCH MORE." The Dalek's voice was full of a sick pride.

"So what did you want to meet me for?" The Doctor asked, now getting down to business. "Surely with all Harriet knew about me, the Daleks could have just killed me anyway by now. So why talk?"

"SATISFACTION." The Dalek replied. "THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF WHY WE MUST EXTERMINATE YOU."

"What are you talking about? Has the reason changed?" The Doctor's voice was innocent and inquiring, but I could tell he was concerned.

"TIME IS BLEEDING, DOCTOR." The Dalek then said. "BLEEDING FROM A WOUND LEFT BY YOU."

"What wound?" River asked before the Doctor could. "Explain yourself, Dalek!"

"WHEN I WAS A HUMAN I WITNESSED YOUR REGENERATION, DOCTOR. TIME IS INJURED BECAUSE YOU ARE OVERDUE ANOTHER REGENERATION. YOU HAVE BEEN RUNNING, AND BECAUSE OF THAT RACES AND PLANETS ARE SUFFERING. THIS IS OF NO CONCERN TO DALEKS, BUT WE ARE AWARE THAT YOU HAVE EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS. AND IF TIME IS DESTROYED WE DALEKS WILL BE DESTROYED ALSO."

The Doctor had paled considerably. I felt weak; I hadn't even considered that the Doctor would be close to regeneration. I hadn't even asked him what the last thing he did before he met me was. What if it was Planet of the Dead? What if it was Mars?

"No, not yet." I whispered.

River was staring from the Doctor to the Dalek and I knew her mind was whirring as to what complications could arise from this.

"ALLOW ME TO FIX THE WOUND IN TIME BY EXTERMINATING YOU MYSELF! EXTERMINATE!" the Dalek screamed.

We ducked.

"Run!" I yelled to the Doctor.

"But if it's meant to happen…" his face was full of anguish.

"Not here. Trust me. Run!"

And so, as the Daleks around the walls followed the Harriet/Dalek's command, we ran half-stooped over towards the ominous-looking closed door. Once there, constantly avoiding lasers, the Doctor tried to open it with the sonic screwdriver.

"It's deadlocked!" he muttered, while River angrily pushed him out of the way.

"Oh, move over!" she snapped.

She pulled out a small explosive from a pocket and attached it to the door, then instructed us to duck. Still avoiding the Dalek's lasers and painfully aware that they were now closing in on us, we threw ourselves sideways as the explosive beeped a countdown.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE YOUR FATE, DOCTOR!" screamed the Harriet Dalek.

With a monumental _boom_, a hole was blasted through the door easily large enough for the three of us to fit through. Now with a much smaller target angle, it was easier to avoid the Daleks…but there was still one problem.

"How are we going to get back down to the TARDIS?" I asked the Doctor as we ran down the same corridor from earlier.

"Um…not a clue." He muttered back, looking around frantically. "Although, this might do."

He made a beeline for a panel on the wall and started sonicking it.

"Hurry up!" River snapped impatiently.

"You try working out the code for one of the most advanced race's ships with nothing but a screwdriver!" was the Doctor's angry retort.

She didn't respond but huffed as her patience level decreased with the screams of the Daleks that were…getting closer.

"They've opened the door!" I cried, looking back down the corridor at the miniature army of Daleks coming towards us.

"Almost there!" The Doctor said.

"THE DOCTOR MUST REGENERATE! EXTERMINATE THE DOCTOR!" all thirteen Daleks were yelling now, with the blue Dalek that was Harriet Jones in front. I gazed at it, remembering the woman she once was.

Then she vanished as the teleport kicked in. The next scene in front of me was the TARDIS' door. We immediately opened it and went inside before the Daleks could follow us. River, to my surprise, accompanied us as well. I still didn't know what she was doing on this planet anyway when she was supposed to be…

The lurching of the TARDIS cut off that thought.

"Where are we going?" I asked the Doctor. "And what about Harriet? You can't just leave her!"

"Harriet Jones is gone." The Doctor answered coldly, glaring at the TARDIS' screen.

"There must be something you can do. Reverse the process?" I pleaded.

"You tell me." He retorted. "You seem to have seen this before. How is it done? Can it be reversed?"

Again, I remembered the only other episode where anything similar to this had occurred…

"No." I said quietly. "There's no way to reverse it, that I know of. As far as I'm aware, Harriet Jones' body would be practically non-existent now."

"That's it then."

"But you can put her out of her misery, regardless of whether or not her Dalek mind experiences that misery or not." I added.

The Doctor gave me a strange look, as though trying to reach into my mind and see why I would suggest that. But I knew he would do it. Despite his one-time annoyance with Harriet Jones, he did care for and respect the woman and would not leave her trapped in a Dalek mind.

The TARDIS landed without him changing course. He walked over to River and held his hand out expectantly.

"What do you want?" she asked in such an innocent way that I knew she was aware of what he was after.

"One of those explosives of yours." He said shortly.

"Alright, sweetie, but you never had the best of aim."

The Doctor gave a slight grin. "You know all about me, don't you remember my fifth life?"

River grinned back and handed him the small, egg-shaped explosive, already primed.

The Doctor went to the TARDIS door and opened it. Through the gap, I could see that he had landed in front of the assembled Daleks. Then it hit me.

He had been planning on doing this from the moment he found out who the blue Dalek was.

"Harriet Jones." He said.

The blue Dalek came forwards. "YOU MAY NOT CALL ME BY THAT NAME ANYMORE."

"I know you have so much Dalek in you, but you can hear me in there somewhere. Know this; I apologise for my mistake that Christmas. You made the right decision. This is me, paying you back."

And without another word he threw the explosive. It was perfect aim; it hit and stuck to the Dalek's shell. Within seconds, it exploded, blowing the top off the Dalek. I knew that Harriet would finally find peace.

Another Dalek stepped forward just before the Doctor closed the door.

"YOU CANNOT RUN FOREVER, DOCTOR."

The slam of the TARDIS door reverberated throughout the entire Dalek ship.

Once we were back on the planet, the Doctor turned to River.

"Right, can I give you a lift anywhere or did you have business here?" he asked her.

River shrugged. "Here's just fine."

"Do you mind me asking what you were doing here?"

"Oh…you know…just waiting for a boy. Typical." She said vaguely.

Of course, I knew what she was talking about…I thought…and I shared a look with her. She winked, prompting the Doctor to raise an eyebrow at her.

"And that would be…?"

She laughed. "Spoilers."

And without another word she strode out of the TARDIS door, leaving the Doctor staring after her dumbfounded. I echoed her laugh and approached the TARDIS console.

"So, where to next?"

Instantly the confused look vanished, to be replaced by one of intense sorrow and fear.

When he didn't answer, I asked him what I had wondered after Harriet's revelation. "Doctor, what was the last place you visited before you met me?"

He still didn't say anything for over two minutes before finally muttering, as quietly as possible. "Mars."

My worst fears were confirmed.

"Y-you can keep running?" I said hopefully. "I mean, this is a time machine, you could run for years and still get there a day after you were summoned."

He shook his head. "No. Time even catches up to me sometimes. I have to go there, and unfortunately, I don't want you to come with me."

**I know that was a short chapter, but now we're getting into the regeneration chapter. Yeah...the next will either be the last or the second-last chapter. Don't worry, there's plenty more to happen in the sequel. I'm sad to end it now, too, but it just seemed right. BTW, all, it's my birthday on Saturday. Yay! So I'll be changing my name to DoctorWhovian18!**


	34. Chapter 34

**Well guys, this is it. The final chapter of A Whovian and a Time Lord. The regeneration. It's a long one, so bear with me and don't forget that there will be a sequel. I want to thank everyone for their support, advice, likes, etc, including my friends and family. This first fic will turn into others, I'm sure ^_^. On another note: I'm 18! Yay! In Australia, that means I'm legal ^_^. Flashed my i.d. today in a bottle shop, it was awesome! Enjoy this chapter. WARNING: Will be emotional.**

**Chapter 32: Goodbye**

"What!?" My cry of protest echoed throughout the entire console room. The TARDIS seemed to hum in agreement with me.

The Doctor didn't react to the volume of my voice, only trying to look as calm as possible as he went around the console, presumably setting the course for home.

"Y-you can't drop me off! I have to come with you! I know what happens." I snapped.

"No. The fact that you know what will happen is the reason why you can't come." He replied. "Whatever is coming has to play out exactly as it does in the series. It's the only way to repair time."

"So you're taking the word of a Dalek." I stated, following him around the console. "What if it was lying?"

"I'm taking the word of a Dalek that used to be a human." He retorted. "The Daleks might hate every other race but the one thing that will concern them is fear for their own species. They wouldn't lie about that."

I didn't have an argument for that. However, I did have one as to why I shouldn't be dumped at home.

"How do you know it will play out so differently from the series?" I asked.

"Because I know that you will try to stop me from regenerating."

His blunt comment hurt, but, like his previous one, couldn't be denied.

Unable to retort, I stormed off to my room. Shutting and locking the door behind me, I felt the tremor as the TARDIS landed. I stared around the area I had come to call my second home.

The walls held the same coral pattern as the console room. I knew that would change soon after the regeneration. The funny thing was, I preferred Matt Smith's console desktop…but what came along with it…

"Talia!"

Everything told me not to answer his call. I seriously considered just keeping the door locked and staying in here until he could be bothered to come and unlock the door with the sonic.

Eventually, after making him wait for about five minutes, I decided that I may as well go out.

His whole aura reminded me of how he was during the End of Time; defeated and scared. I hated seeing him like that, which was exactly why I didn't want him to be alone.

"Doctor." I stated, making my voice sound both pleading and understanding.

He closed his eyes and looked away, staring blankly at the TARDIS' central column, moving rhythmically up and down. "I called your mother."

"What?"

Before I had any chance to react to that, Mum opened the TARDIS door. We had landed back home.

"Talia, you've got to come with me." She said in a slightly uncertain voice, walking over and taking my hand.

I looked at her in shock, before turning back to the Doctor. "You're using my mother to blackmail me into staying!"

"It's for your own safety. I don't know what will happen but I want you as far away as possible." His voice remained flat and monotone; a clear sign that he was trying to hold back his feelings.

That was really annoying.

"I'll be safe. I guarantee it." I insisted. "What happens will not affect me. But it will affect you and I want to be there for you."

"You will. Afterwards." He stated.

"When? After you regenerate?" I demanded, stalking right up to him in the hope of getting some response. "So the next time I see you, you'll have a different face?"

"It won't be different." He answered, avoiding the first question. "You know what it'll look like."

Mum spoke up again. "Talia, he explained to me that you have to stay here. Please, he made me promise to keep you here until he returns."

"Why did you agree?" I rounded on her next. "You've seen the last two episodes of the Tenth Doctor! You know what's going to happen just as much as I do? And you're agreeing with him!"

"Calm down!"

The Doctor finally broke out of his reverie, his voice cracking like a whip through my anger.

My expression turned from rage to surprise to sadness as I looked up at him. "You can't do this."

"Please." He whispered. "I will come back."

He nodded at my Mum, who firmly but reluctantly took my arm and led me towards the door while I was still stunned by his sudden mood changes.

As my feet hit the grass, however, I started struggling to get back in. Mum's grip on my arm tightened as the doors shut with a snap.

"No! No, you can't!" I screamed loud enough for him to hear me as the TARDIS began to fade with the familiar wheezing sound. "He had _better_ come back." I hissed fiercely into the air as it vanished completely.

"He will, don't worry. He always does." Mum reminded me, pulling me into a hug that went a fair way in reassuring me. Then she pulled back and frowned. "But…you mentioned his last two episodes; does that mean what I think it does? With the Master?"

I nodded, the realisation suddenly hitting me as well. "Yes. I'll be fine, because of the Time Lord energy…but you and Dad and everyone else will…"

The thought was too creepy. We ambled inside the house and I made myself a cup of tea, turned on the news and waited.

Days passed. Of course, I knew it would all start on Christmas Eve.

Three days to go.

Not to say that I didn't do anything in those three days. I watched both episodes again, with my parents, so they knew what was coming, too. I rang Martha, to tell her not to worry at whatever might happen. I did simple things like cleaning my room and packing some new clothes, for I knew that whether he returned the same or different, I would still travel with him.

I considered that for about half an hour each day; allowing myself only that or else the depression would overwhelm me. I knew I could never have the same connection with the Eleventh Doctor as I did with _my_ Doctor, but that we would easily become the best of friends. I just hoped, for both our sakes, that his feelings changed also with regeneration.

And if he came back the same? Well, then I would have to witness the change.

I didn't know which would be worse.

On the morning of December 25th, because, of course, Australia experienced everything a day late, rumours started appearing on the news and the internet about Harold Saxon's return. Martha called again and I explained a bit more about what was going on. She was shocked at the Master plan, as I expected her to be, and was equally terrified. I told her not to worry, that the Doctor would take care of it all.

She asked why I wasn't with him. I gave her the same reason he gave me. She wasn't convinced.

The moment came when my parents were transformed into copies of the Master. It was even freakier than in the episode. While the process was still underway, I escaped the house and hid in the shed, so they wouldn't know that I was still myself.

That was about when Donna called.

"Talia, Talia is that you? I wondered if, because we're similar, you'd still be you."

"It's me, Donna. Find somewhere safe. Your family will be fine, trust me."

"Is the Doctor with you?"

"No."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes."

"That sounds like the Doctor's 'yes'."

She knew me and him too well.

"Stay safe, Donna."

I hung up.

When Gallifrey appeared in the sky; its size making it visible even here, I knew it was close. I returned inside ten minutes later, knowing that my parents would be back to normal now. They had many questions, all of which I answered to the best of my knowledge, all the while waiting and wondering how much longer it would be until I heard the TARDIS.

It wasn't long at all. A mere twenty minutes after Gallifrey vanished back into the Time War, the familiar sound of the familiar blue box reached my ears and I ran outside.

Anxiety filled me as I waited for the doors to open. Whose face would it be?

"It's nearly time. I'm sorry. I'm so so…OW!"

My palm had connected quite solidly with the side of his face. And it was the face I was used to.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to me again!" I snapped, raising an eyebrow at his exaggerated rubbing of his cheek.

"I said I'm sorry!" he retorted. We stared at each other, before he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"I do understand, it was just a bit of a shock." I said quietly. "I'm glad you came back before…"

I trailed off and we silently walked into the TARDIS.

"I wanted to…to go and visit people that, well, meant a lot to me, well, to this face, anyway." His usually unstoppable gob was becoming weak. I gripped his hand.

"I know. That's a good idea. But maybe, instead of just letting them see you, actually say goodbye." I suggested.

He made a face. "It won't be fair on them. They won't be able to accept that I'm regenerating."

"Yes they will."

I was right. Martha, Mickey, Sarah-Jane and Donna all accepted and thanked him for saying goodbye and saving their lives. Donna was shocked once she realised that the lotto ticket came from him, but became quite emotional when told that this regeneration would be permanent.

"Now, you look after him, no matter how he looks afterwards, okay?" she ordered me.

I smiled slightly. "Course I will, Donna. How could you ever think otherwise?"

Even Jack, after saluting the Doctor and I, showed that he cared by shaking the Doctor's hand and saying, "It was an honour to know two of you, Doctor."

Every time we got back in the TARDIS he looked more and more haggard. I noticed him wince several times and knew that he was barely keeping the regeneration at bay.

I let him see Joan's granddaughter alone, knowing that my presence there would just complicate things. He appreciated that, and then, of course, it was time for Rose.

I stayed in the TARDIS then, too, but this time I watched with the door half open. I knew exactly when he would stumble and fall.

The exchange between him and Rose was too far away for me to hear, but, of course, I knew all the lines. I was glad that Rose was a good enough person to smile and wish him a happy New Year, even though she didn't yet know him.

Then came the hard part.

Every step was hard, for both of us, but for him worse. When he did fall, I went to him and helped him to his feet as the Ood announced the song. When Vale Decem started playing from some hidden place, the tears that I had been holding back fell and I didn't try to stop them.

Together, with me supporting the Doctor's heavier-than-expected weight, we walked step by step to the TARDIS. I opened the door with my key, but once we were inside he indicated that he didn't want the support anymore.

I released him, understanding in a deep way why. He threw his coat over one of the pillars, and I knew he would never wear it again. I waited patiently while he set the TARDIS into space, knowing that we'd just crash back down to Earth anyway.

Breathing hard, he stopped and I knew it was nearly time. I couldn't help the panic that seized me as I truly realised how foolish I had been; to fall in love with a man who wouldn't stay the same, when I knew that I wouldn't love the man he would turn into in the same way.

I approached him and saw his own tears that he finally let show. He took my hand in his.

"Thank you for being there, Talia." He said quietly, his voice thick. "I turned into something horrible after Mars, something desperate and wrong. You repaired that. I owe my ninth life to Rose, and this one to you. Thank you."

"I wouldn't have had it any other way. Thank you for letting me come with you." I replied softly. "And know that I won't ever abandon you. I'll be here after you regenerate and I'll never leave."

He smiled sadly. "That is why I never deserved you."

He pulled me in for one last kiss, then pushed me away gently. I stared up at his face, remembering it, knowing that it was only seconds away.

He stared back and I had a feeling that similar thoughts were going through his mind.

He shook his head sadly. "I don't want to go."

He had to, didn't he? He just…had to.

The regeneration was just as it was in the series; explosive and destructive. I quickly went and took cover behind a pillar, knowing that the regenerative confusion and noise of the TARDIS' protests would drown out the last few sobs. When it was over, I stood up, red-but-dry-eyed.

"Legs, I've still got legs, good. Arms, hands, ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes, eyes too. Nose, I've had worse. Chin…blimey. Hair..."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his rambling, especially when he thought that he was a girl. I stepped out from behind the pillar as he glared at me.

"You could've warned me about this!" he accused, staring stubbornly at a lock of hair. "I'm still not ginger!"

"Nope." I agreed. "And still rude."

He opened his mouth to protest but another part of the TARDIS suddenly exploded. "We're…we're…oh, what am I missing?"

"Crashing?" I suggested somewhat glumly.

"That's it!" he crowed. "We're crashing!" a delighted laugh escaped him as I felt the TARDIS begin to plummet.

He yelled, "Geronimo!"

I whispered. "Allons-y." for the last time.

**Now, you all have to decide and PM me as soon as you can as to whether or not you want a teaser for the sequel at the end of this chapter. I've got my final exams of school (in Australia they're called HSCs) in October so I won't start the sequel until after they're done. However, you decide whether it'll be worse to wait and wonder or worse to get a teaser and then be left possibly on a cliffy for almost two months. Review and PM please and thanks again to everyone: whovianpower, Argetaie, Aka-Baka-Hoshi, GeronimoDoctor3, FangirlCupcakes99 and all the rest!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Hey, I know it's been a while but I've been really busy lately. I am aware that the overwhelming vote has been for a teaser, so here it is. I've kinda tried to structure it like the end of an episode and a 'Next Time' on Doctor Who, except for more than one chapter of the sequel. No spoiler questions will be answered, but suggestions for other chapters will be happily accepted ^_^ Enjoy!**

**Epilogue/Teaser**

I knew I would stay with the Doctor now that he had regenerated, but I also knew that I had to be careful not to mess with what I knew would happen in the future. I couldn't warn him about not returning to Amy for twelve years, because that was a central part of her character. And who knows what I'd have to hide when River shows up again! It was going to be an interesting time travelling with him. Perhaps I would elect to be dropped off home when I knew certain things had been happening…

I just realised that was the exact reason why my Doctor had done that. He really was almost always right.

At the moment, however, I didn't ponder on that and let the new (new new) Doctor go and meet the young Amelia Pond, while I ambled back towards my room, wondering what it would look like once the TARDIS had regenerated.

Once inside, I glanced around at all the pictures of the Doctor and I. There weren't many, but those that were there were special. One taken at the ball the Doctor took me to on my birthday, both of us standing side-by-side and looking like such a strange and mismatched pair. Another taken much more recently, when I secretly snapped the Doctor still covered in flour after the cake-making incident.

I knew it would take me a long time, maybe forever, before I stopped missing him. But, through my mind went pictures of various episodes of the Eleventh Doctor. I smiled, knowing that travelling with him would be just as much fun as ever.

If only I knew what was coming…

*cue 'NEXT TIME' clip*

A dark, dingy house, set somewhere in Eastern Europe, followed by a shot of someone that looked uncannily like Dracula…

A Dalek's eyestalk mere centimetres away from Talia's face, its voice a low drone as it said, "THE DOCTOR WOULD NOT APPROVE…"

Two flashes of blonde, two people lost from the Doctor's life, two people he never entertained the hope of seeing again…

An ordinary looking train, with the Doctor, Talia, Amy and a young man balancing precariously on the roof…

Finally, the Doctor turns to his three companions (Amy, Rory and Talia), with an extremely confused look on his face and whispers, "Who are you all?"…

**Well, there you go. This story will now be completed. Thanks once again to all readers/reviewers/favouriters and followers, anonymous and non. Look out for the sequel at the end of October! And maybe another surprise as well *mischievous grin***


End file.
